A veteran awarded two Purple Hearts was struck and killed while pushing his wife away from an oncoming car. 80-year-old Rubin Baum, who served as a medic in the Korean War, was standing with his wife, 62-year-old Denise Baum, trying to hail a cab in New York City.
The New York Daily News spoke with the newly widowed Baum about her late husband. According to Denise Baum, a sedan crashed into a minivan, causing the sedan to lose control and go into a spin. It hit the couple. Denise was thrown into a parked car. Her husband was pinned under the sedan.
Denise said, "He sacrificed his for life for me. He really gave me a good shove. It was in a second, he saved my life." The two met several decades ago while fighting over a taxicab, according to The New York Times.
Denise said that she tried to lift the car from her husband but couldn't. She and her husband were rushed to a local hospital where Rubin died. Police are investigating but do not anticipate any criminal charges.
Rubin left behind his wife Denise, two children, and four grandchildren who "idolized" him. Rubin's father also died in a car accident, when he was hit by an automobile in Manhattan in 1977.