The Sidelines : Lineman Saves Life With Catch

A lineman for West Virginia University’s football team broke the fall of a fellow student who jumped from the third floor of a burning apartment building, the Fire Department said today.

“I was able to catch him under the chest and he landed on all fours,” said Ron Bunofsky, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound sophomore.

Ernest L. Wallace, 21, a WVU student from Camp Springs, Md., was listed in serious condition today at Ruby Memorial Hospital. If Bunofsky hadn’t been around, Wallace “probably would have broken his neck,” said fire Capt. Rick Hill.

Bunofsky, 20, said he was playing cards with his roommates when fire broke out at the building across the street early Sunday. He and others threw rocks at Wallace’s window and yelled to awaken him; residents of lower floors had heard smoke alarms and had escaped safely, Hill said.

“He was hanging out of the window, head first, and we yelled for him to wait until we could get near to try and catch him,” Bunofsky said. “He didn’t wait and let go, and I just tried to break his fall.”