In its second announcement of 2023, the Carnegie Hero Fund is honored to recognize 16 civilians who risked serious injury or death to save others, including three teachers who, in separate incidents, drowned while trying to save children struggling in deep water.
Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.
Among those saved by this quarter’s Medal recipients were 10 children, a police officer being assaulted, and a 30-year-old skier who, dangling more than two stories above the ground, lost consciousness while being strangled by his entangled backpack as he attempted to exit a ski lift.
The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this announcement, the Carnegie Medal has been awarded to 10,371 individuals since the inception of the Pittsburgh-based Fund in 1904.
Each of the recipients or their survivors will receive a financial grant. Throughout the 119 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $44 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
The awardees are:
Brady M. Pratt, McAllen, Texas
Manjit Singh, deceased, Fresno, California
James Blouin, Sequim, Washington
Ryan Ross, Port Angeles, Washington
Robert Cody Moore, Bellaire, Texas
Thomas Kenning, deceased, St. Petersburg, Florida
Aleem Ramji, deceased, Toronto
John M. Murphy, Antioch, California
Victor Villanueva, deceased, New Braunfels, Texas
Casandra Joann Kendrick, deceased, Seguin, Texas
Kealii J. Akahane, Bellevue, Washington
Mickey Wilson, Golden, Colorado
Jessica Lea Embry, deceased, Wilmington, North Carolina
Rayna Michele Montgomery, Stuart, Virginia
Joseph P. Cockerill, Lincoln, Nebraska
Gerold Prather, Kalamazoo, Michigan
To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online or write to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. More information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at carnegiehero.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Brady M. Pratt
A violent head-on collision in Petronila, Texas, left an SUV and sedan burning in a field off of the highway on Dec. 20, 2020. Brady M. Pratt, a 35-year-old off-duty border patrol agent of McAllen, Texas, was driving nearby and responded to the accident, where he was told two children remained inside the SUV. Despite flames issuing from the engine and heavy smoke inside the car, Pratt entered the car through the broken-out rear windshield. One of the girls, 8, told Pratt to first remove the younger girl, 1. With difficulty, Pratt reached into the backseat area and unlatched the girl’s car seat harness, lifted her out of her seat, and backed toward the rear windshield, handing the girl to a woman outside the car. Pratt then returned for the 8-year-old, but realizing that a leg injury she suffered in the accident would make it difficult to remove her in the same manner, he left the SUV and went to her window. A man there broke the window with a golf club. Pratt pulled the remaining glass from the door frame, then partially entered the car, grasped the girl under her arms and removed her to safety. Pratt then climbed on the SUV’s roof and reached through the broken-out sunroof to check the pulses of the driver and a front passenger. Determining that they had died in the accident, Pratt retreated to safety. The 8-year-old suffered a broken leg. Pratt and the girls were not burned.
Manjit Singh, deceased
A 31-year-old farmer drowned Aug. 5, 2020, attempting to save an 8-year-old girl in the Kings River in Reedley, California. Samantha Cruz Pedro struggled to swim as she was separated from a group of children playing in the river and the swift current carried her downstream. Among those on the beach who were alerted by calls to help multiple people, Manjit Singh of Fresno, California, entered the river, despite not knowing how to swim. He removed and unwrapped a turban he was wearing and extended it away from him as a lifeline as he advanced into water up to his neck. Shortly, he submerged and onlookers lost sight of him in the chaos. Another girl was removed from the water; she was not seriously injured. A man located Samantha and helped pass her to first responders on the bank. She was taken to a hospital and died six days later. Singh was ultimately recovered downstream and was brought to the bank unresponsive. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. He had drowned.
James Blouin and Ryan Ross
During an early morning May 19, 2022, traffic stop, a Sequim, Washington, police officer was tackled to the ground. A violent struggle ensued for nearly 2.5 minutes while the assailant, who had just allegedly killed his mother, punched and kicked Officer Daniel Martinez, 31, and the two struggled for control of Martinez’s gun. By the time Carnegie Hero James Blouin arrived on the scene, the gun had already been discharged twice during the altercation, and the officer held tightly to the gun under the assailant’s body. Blouin, a 50-year-old purchaser of Sequim, approached and attempted to take the gun, but, failing to find it, he pushed the assailant’s head to the ground. As the assailant struggled to push himself up, Blouin grasped his hands and also called for help. Carnegie Hero Ryan Ross, a 45-year-old facilities maintenance technician, was driving nearby and responded. Ross, of Port Angeles, Washington, restrained the assailant’s legs. Others arrived soon after to help subdue the man, who was subsequently arrested. Martinez was hospitalized for treatment of injuries that included torn shoulder cartilage. Blouin and Ross did not need medical treatment.
Robert Cody Moore
A 53-year-old trader jumped into the 68-degree Houston Ship Channel off of La Porte, Texas, after a car entered the channel on New Year’s Eve 2021. Robert Cody Moore of Bellaire, Texas, jumped from a ferry landing into the water 8 feet below. He swam to the vehicle and called for the driver inside to exit the car. At the point where water inside the car rose to cover the driver’s head, the driver’s window opened and the driver exited. Moore immediately grabbed the 63-year-old man by the collar, instructing him to float on his back, while Moore held him to his chest. After swimming back to the ferry landing and finding no way to exit the water, Moore towed the man to a nearby buoy, holding onto its tether in the 15-feet deep water. Two others in Moore’s party tied together shirts to craft a lifeline and, standing on the landing, extended it to the water. Moore towed the man back to the landing and held onto the shirts, where those on land dragged them to a point where they could pull the man out of the water. Moore then climbed out of the water.
Thomas Kenning, deceased
Last June 27, a 16-year-old girl was wading in Lake Michigan off of Porter, Indiana, when she was pulled away from shore into water at least 5 feet deep. Water conditions were rough with rip currents, 4-foot waves, and unpredictable water depths at the scene. A 38-year-old teacher was at the beach with his family when he saw the girl at a point about 60 feet from shore. A good swimmer, Thomas Kenning of St. Petersburg, Florida, entered the water and swam toward the girl. Approaching her, he reached his hand out, but a wave broke over them before they could connect. Kenning submerged. Lifeguards arrived and removed the girl from the water. Kenning was spotted in the water about 15 minutes after he entered. Lifeguards and other rescue personnel removed him from the water and attempted to revive him, but he had drowned.
Aleem Ramji, deceased
On Sept. 3, 2020, two sisters, Raabia K. Basaria, 22, and Zeanna K. Basaria, 16, were washed from a pier into Lake Huron off of Kincardine, Ontario, and struggled in 8 feet of water amid treacherous conditions including large waves and strong rip currents. A cousin in their party, 38-year-old teacher Aleem Ramji of Toronto, entered the water from the pier and swam to them. Another member of their party spotted Ramji holding onto Basaria and Zeanna, before a wave separated the three of them. Ramji lost consciousness. Others used a life ring and rope to assist Basaria and Zeanna from the water. Ramji was carried toward a beach, where he was removed from the water. He could not be revived, he had drowned.
John M. Murphy
A 71-year-old man was fishing Dec. 18, 2021, in the 44-degree Sacramento River in Castella, California, when he lost his footing and was carried downstream. Bracing against an underwater boulder, Mark E. Likos held his head above water and shouted for help, as rushing water washed over him. In Likos’ party, John M. Murphy, 39, a stay-at-home parent of Antioch, California, responded and entered the cold, swift water. Positioning himself behind Likos, he braced his feet on rocks and pulled Likos’ upper body out of the water. Likos fell in and out of consciousness and Murphy had to wake him repeatedly. The current threatened to pull the men into the deeper current on either side of them. Murphy adjusted his position to remain stable. Rescue personnel arrived after Murphy had been in the water for an hour. Murphy then helped two rescue swimmers move Likos to an exposed boulder upstream where he was removed from the river by helicopter. He suffered hypothermia and nerve damage to his hands and arms. Murphy, who was nearly exhausted, was assisted to safety by rescue personnel. He suffered mild hypothermia and recovered.
Victor Villanueva, deceased, and Casandra Joann Kendrick, deceased
Victor Villanueva and Casandra Joann Kendrick drowned while saving two small children from the same fate during a June 13, 2021, fishing trip in Seguin, Texas. Villanueva, a 30-year-old lumberyard worker of New Braunfels, Texas, took his three sons, ages 9, 6, and 5, to fish in the Seguin River. Another group of people on the tiny island that day included retail clerk Kendrick, 22. While wading, the 9-year-old stepped into water 15 feet deep near an undertow. In an attempt to reach the boy, his brothers also entered deep water. Villanueva swam to the boy and passed him to another woman who had responded from Kendrick’s party. That woman brought the boy to safety. Kendrick and another woman swam to the younger boys, the other woman using a child’s floatie. While one of the boys held onto the floatie, Kendrick handed the other boy to the other woman, who brought both boys to safety. Before they were able to return to shore, Villanueva and Kendrick submerged and drowned. The boys were unharmed.
Kealii J. Akahane
A Bellevue, Washington, police officer saved a 17-year-old from drowning after the boy, wearing a backpack filled with 50 pounds of weights, entered Phantom Lake on June 6, 2022. On duty, Officer Kealii J. Akahane, 51, and his partner, were dispatched to the scene, where, after searching, they saw the boy’s hand under the surface of the water at the end of a pier that jutted into the lake. Fully clothed including wearing boots and a ballistic vest, Akahane climbed over the wooden railing and jumped into the 50-degree water, where he submerged three times before finding the boy in the murky water. He pulled him to the surface and brought him to the pier. Akahane pushed the boy, who was by then unconscious, upward and officers on the pier pulled him from the water, where they performed CPR. The boy was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He recovered. Firefighters assisted Akahane from the water. He was cold and nearly exhausted, but he did not seek medical treatment. He recovered.
Mickey Wilson
A 30-year-old skier was dangling from a Dillon, Colorado, ski lift chair after his backpack became tangled in the chair as he attempted to disembark from the lift during a Jan. 4, 2017, outing. As the lift continued and carried Richard Rattenbury downhill, before it came to a stop the chest strap choked him and he lost consciousness. Alerted to Rattenbury’s crisis, Mickey Wilson, a 28-year-old ski instructor of Golden, Colorado, with a hand injury, climbed the ladder to a nearby tower, straddled a 2-inch steel cable and pulled himself 30 feet along the cable until he was at a point over Rattenbury’s seat. Grasping the cable, he swung his body down and then dropped 2 feet into the seat where he tried to kick and break the plastic buckle that was caught in the chair. A ski patroller below the chair threw Wilson a knife, he caught it and used it to cut the strap, allowing Rattenbury to drop 10 feet to the ground, where others performed CPR and then took him by toboggan to a waiting ambulance. Rattenbury, who suffered a broken rib, was hospitalized overnight for observation; he fully recovered. Wilson rode the ski lift down to the mountain’s base station, where he stepped off. He was not injured.
Jessica Lea Embry, deceased, and Rayna Michele Montgomery
In a chaotic scene in the Atlantic Ocean off of Kure Beach, North Carolina, two sisters, 11 and 14, were pulled by a strong rip current to a point 110 feet from shore on April 18, 2021. Multiple people responded including Jessica Lea Embry, a 40-year-old, Wilmington, North Carolina, teacher, and Rayna Michele Montgomery, a 17-year-old, Stuart, Virginia, high school student. Embry reached at least one of the girls in water that was 9 feet deep, but she was repeatedly submerged by rough surf and eventually lost consciousness in the water. Rayna swam to the panicking 11-year-old who repeatedly submerged her. Rayna towed her to a point about 15 feet from shore where a man took the girl and brought her to safety. Rayna exited the ocean and vomited water she had swallowed. The 14-year-old girl also reached the beach, while firefighters rescued another man and Embry. Embry could not be revived; she had drowned. Rayna went to the hospital the following day; her treatment included the use of an inhaler for three days. She recovered.
Joseph P. Cockerill
After a Sept. 23, 2021, accident in Waverly, Nebraska, a 39-year-old warehouse manager entered the cab of a burning dump truck to free its unconscious driver whose foot was caught between the seat and the center console. Flames had entered the passenger compartment of the truck and were issuing from between the seats when Joseph P. Cockerill of Lincoln, Nebraska, responded to the truck. Cockerill fully entered the cab, knelt on the man’s torso, and freed his trapped foot. He then backed out of the cab and he and another man pulled the 41-year-old driver from the truck and brought him to safety. Flames, as high as 20 feet, grew to engulf the truck and spread to the grass below. The man was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash, but he was not burned.
Gerold Prather
A 16-year-old boy struggled to swim in Lake Michigan during a May 15, 2022, outing with his cousin and two friends at a beach off of Sawyer, Michigan. The boy and his friends were at least 100 feet out into the lake, when they started calling for help. The friends had submerged. In another party at the beach, Gerold Prather, a 22-year-old robotic welder from Kalamazoo, Michigan, heard calls for help, entered the lake, and swam to the boy. Reaching him, they submerged and resurfaced. With difficulty, Prather first pushed the boy toward the beach and then positioned him on his back and towed him to a point about 50 feet from shore where, tiring, Prather shouted for help. Another man waded into the lake and helped Prather and the boy get to the beach. First responders took the boy to the hospital. Firefighters later recovered the bodies of the boy’s friends, who had drowned.