The Carnegie Hero Fund is honored to recognize 18 individuals, including a 10-year-old boy who saved a 6-year-old from falling off a chairlift at a ski resort in Nellysford, Virginia; a 33-year-old teacher who helped rescue a 15-year-old student set on fire at a school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and a 54-year-old man who rescued the pilot of a sinking floatplane that flipped over and crashed in a lake in Bellevue, Washington.
All the men and women recognized today risked serious injury or death, or were killed, saving or attempting to save others in acts of extraordinary heroism. This is the Hero Fund’s first award announcement for 2026. Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.
Among those saved by this quarter’s Carnegie Medal recipients were eleven children, including an 11-year-old girl rescued from a burning vehicle by a 36-year-old man following an accident in Midway, Georgia, and a 6-year-old boy rescued from drowning by a 36-year-old woman in Ottawa, Ontario.
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 10,563 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 122 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $46 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
The recipients are:
Sadia Khan Ottawa, Ontario
Matt Vasey Bellevue, Washington
Volodymyr Zubko Mountain View, California
Gulson Elvé, deceased Birchwood, Tennessee
Jason Leary Washington, North Carolina
Major Metzger Virginia Beach, Virginia
Jeffery Edward Brady, deceased Yuma, Arizona
Mark Bryson, deceased Lakeland, Florida
Ryan Blair Fairview, Michigan
Brian K. Patterson Ludowici, Georgia
Esperanza Gutierrez, deceased Sevierville, Tennessee
Matthew Atchley, deceased Erie, Pennsylvania
Anderson Chase Childers, deceased Dallas, Georgia
Judd Bronson Windsor, Colorado
Sean Hayes Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Samuel Hardin Adcock Columbia, Tennessee
James Alan Garner Columbia, Tennessee
Matthew Lubieniecki Ogden Dunes, Indiana
To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete an online nomination form at carnegiehero.org 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: facebook.com/carnegiehero, Instagram: @carnegiehero, and Twitter: @carnegie_hero.
Sadia Khan
A 6-year-old boy was playing on a rocky bank of the Rideau River at Hog’s Back Park on June 30, 2024, in Ottawa, Ontario, when he slipped and fell into the rushing water. He was swept into some rapids as he struggled to remain afloat. Along the rocky riverbank nearby was researcher and Ottawa resident Sadia Khan, 36. Upon seeing the boy being swept downstream, she immediately lowered herself in the water before she waded and swam about 10 feet in chin-deep water until she was able to grasp the boy under his arm. She struggled to keep him above water as the current continued to pull them. Khan slammed into various rocks and submerged several times. She attempted to dig her feet into the rocks at the bottom of the river but was unable to maintain a foothold until she and the boy were about 300 feet down river. There, Khan wedged her feet between riverbed rocks and grabbed onto a dry rock above the surface. She then pushed the boy up onto the rock before pulling herself up next to him. The boy sat in Khan’s lap atop the rock until first-responders arrived. At the scene, paramedics evaluated the boy, who was cold and suffered a cut on his arm. Khan suffered multiple cuts on her legs, back, arms, and feet. She went to the hospital a week later and was prescribed to undergo long-term physiotherapy for pain in her lower body. More than a year later, Khan was still experiencing hip and lower back pain.
Matt Vasey
A floatplane piloted by Anthony L. Jurcan, 80, was flying over Lake Sammamish in Bellevue, Washington, on Sept. 15, 2023, when it flipped over and crashed more than a half-mile from land. Jurcan was trapped upside down inside the submerged cabin, strapped into the pilot’s seat underwater, while his passenger, his stepson, managed to escape and was pulled by a boater onto his boat. Technology executive Matt Vasey, 54, from Bellevue, was working at his lakefront house when he was alerted to the crash by his neighbor. Vasey jumped into his ski boat and raced to the plane when he was told by the boater that the pilot remained inside. Vasey then jumped off his boat into the cold, deep water and swam 60 feet to the plane before submerging to reach inside the partially open canopy. Unable to move Jurcan, Vasey resurfaced to get a breath and dived back down. He then forced open the canopy with his hands and feet. Vasey climbed inside, unbuckled Jurcan’s lap belt, and pulled him to the surface. He moved an unresponsive Jurcan, who was heavier than him, to a wing of the plane and started CPR. Another boat arrived and the passengers helped pull Jurcan aboard the boat. With both men aboard, the boat raced to shore where Vasey and others performed CPR until paramedics took over. Jurcan ultimately succumbed from injuries incurred in the crash and died at the scene. He did not drown. Vasey suffered cuts on his hands and face but did not seek medical treatment.
Volodymyr Zubko
On Sept. 19, 2023, a 37-year-old man intentionally sped his vehicle into a Freeport, New York, marina, crashing through a bulkhead and plunging into a canal. As the vehicle began to sink, the man submerged upside-down and remained unconscious near his vehicle. Software engineer Volodymyr Zubko, 37, who, at the time of the rescue, had arrived in the country four days prior from Ukraine and was in his house across from the marina and heard the crash. He ran outside where he saw a man’s leg sticking out of the water. Zubko jumped into the canal and swam 80 feet to the man where he grabbed both of his legs to pull him away from the sinking SUV. He then slipped an arm under the man’s arm and swam toward a dock. Zubko towed the man underwater to waiting first-responders and police who pulled the man onto the dock. They started CPR, but the floating dock flipped over, dumping Zubko, the driver, and all first responders into the water. At that point, the man regained consciousness and attempted to drown himself by dunking his head. He fought first-responders before they eventually pulled him onto the dock again. The man was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries from the crash as well as swallowing water. Zubko was not injured.
Gulson Elvé, deceased
While wading in the shallow water of a pool near the base of a Signal Mountain, Tennessee, overflow dam on Apr. 28, 2024, Greffania Merilus, 23, slipped off algae-covered rocks into water, 6 feet deep. In Merilus’ hiking party was student Gulson Elvé, 20, from Birchwood, Tennessee, who reacted immediately and moved to the water’s edge. Elvé waded toward Merilus before jumping into the deeper water and reached Merilus. He attempted to move back toward wadable water with Merilus, but she became panic-stricken, flailing, and grasped him. Within seconds, both submerged and did not resurface. One of their friends called 911 and police responded to a trailhead about a mile from the pool. Police reached the dam and entered the water about 20 minutes after the incident occurred where at that point they retrieved Merilus. Police attempted CPR, but were unsuccessful in reviving Merilus. She drowned. Elvé was retrieved from the water by a dive team about an hour-and-a-half after his attempted rescue. He also drowned.
Jason Leary
After floodwater in Spring Hope, North Carolina, swept a minivan to the edge of a ravine that overflowed its bank and flooded a nearby highway on Aug. 6, 2025, its driver Lottie R. Alston, 24, stood on the frame of the vehicle’s front passenger window with her stepfather in the driver’s seat. On-duty police lieutenant Jason Leary, 52, from Washington, North Carolina, had responded to the highway and saw Alston holding onto the vehicle in the water. Leary used his radio to request fire rescue personnel when he was alerted by an officer that Alston had fallen into the water. Seeing her taken downstream by the swift current, Leary gave the officer his radio and ran toward the water’s edge. He jumped into the ravine still wearing his uniform and boots. Leary came within 5 feet of a completely submerged Alston and attempted to locate her when he, too, submerged. He felt around for her in the water but was unsuccessful and taken downstream by the swift current about 90 feet. As he was carried, his body struck a downed tree that extended across the ravine about 5 feet below the water’s surface. Leary tried to climb over it but could not, so he rolled his body so that the force of the water pushed him under it. He resurfaced and was taken another 90 feet, where he saw an oak tree on the bank and grasped it. The water repeatedly splashed his head and went into his mouth, causing him to have difficulty breathing and to let go of the tree. Leary was taken downstream to a point about 300 feet from the van, where he grasped trees on the bank. He braced his legs on one of the trees for stability and used his flashlight to signal for help. A police sergeant and fire personnel responded to the opposite bank where they threw him a rescue rope. Leary grasped it and they pulled him from the water to safety. Alston and her stepfather, who had at some point exited the vehicle, were later found as water receded. They both had drowned. Leary suffered scratches and bruises to his ribs. He recovered.
Major Metzger
At a ski resort in Nellysford, Virginia, on Jan. 26, 2025, 6-year-old Bryce Rader was loading onto a four-person bench seat on a chairlift when he had difficulty and was sliding off the seat. Bryce was one of four children on the seat, including 10-year-old Major Metzger from Virginia Beach. Major was seated immediately beside Bryce and their sisters. The lift began to ascend as Bryce continued to struggle to sit safely with his heavy gear that included a helmet and skis. Major grasped onto him and attempted to pull him onto the seat. By the time workers were alerted to bring the lift to a complete stop, Bryce had fallen entirely off the seat. At that point, the bottom of the seat was about 16 feet above the rugged, sloped ground, and Major was leaning forward and down. He continued to hold Bryce’s arms with both of his gloved hands while wearing a helmet and skis of his own until a ski patrol arrived with a safety mat. They stood below the seat and advised Major to let Bryce go after he dangled precariously for about four minutes during the incident. Bryce fell down to the pad, bounced off it, and suffered a small bump on his head. Medical staff evaluated Bryce and he did not require additional treatment. He recovered. Major rode the chairlift to the top of the ski run and offloaded with the girls. His arms were sore and he was shaken. He did not require medical treatment.
Jeffery Edward Brady, deceased
During a family outing on the Colorado River near Martinez Lake, Arizona, on July 5, 2025, a 10-year-old boy entered deeper water from a nearby submerged sandbar and struggled to swim. He soon was followed by his 12-year-old brother and he, too, had difficulty when he tried to help his brother. Also in the boys’ party was 51-year-old manager Jeffery Edward Brady from Yuma, Arizona, who was on a boat with his partner, the boys’ aunt. The boat was anchored on the sandbar where Brady heard calls for help and left the boat to the deeper water. Brady submerged as he struggled to keep both boys above the surface. Brady’s twin brother and the brother’s partner soon joined them in the river. A passing boat stopped and the boys, along with the partner, all boarded it. By then, Brady had submerged and did not resurface. His brother dived to search the immediate area, but could not find him and exited the river. First-responders evaluated the boys and they did not require medical treatment. Brady was recovered downstream hours later. He had drowned.
Mark Bryson, deceased
In shallow water about 20 feet from shore in Daytona Beach, Florida, on June 2, 2023, Roland P. Bryson and Miah L. Gonzalez, both 11, were with Miah’s mother Andrea L. Rogers, 41, when the sand beneath their feet gave way and a strong rip current pulled them farther from shore. Roland’s father and construction worker Mark Bryson, 42, from Lakeland, Florida, was on the beach when he heard them shout for help. He immediately ran to the shoreline and swam to reach the three of them. They remained together and were pulled to a point about 300 feet from shore. Rogers held Roland and Miah by their wrists as Bryson approached. She pushed them both to him, but Roland soon grasped her wrist and she no longer saw Bryson or Miah. At some point, Bryson had submerged, and Miah let the rip current take her as she was pushed out of the current toward shore. Roland, too, escaped the rip current and was pushed toward shore. Rogers had lost consciousness and awoke in shallow water where others pulled her to safety. Another man in the party was nearby and had heard a scream for help. Using a surfboard, he swam out to Bryson. By that point, Bryson was facedown in the water. The man positioned Bryson on the board and returned to shore with difficulty before reaching a sandbar. Lifeguards responded to take Bryson from him and then brought him to the beach. Rogers ingested water and was treated at the hospital. She was detained to have her heart monitored and was released after five days. She recovered. Roland also ingested water and was checked by paramedics at the scene and at the hospital, but did not require further treatment. He recovered. Miah was uninjured. Attempts to revive Bryson were unsuccessful. He had drowned.
Ryan Blair
While swimming with friends in the Au Sable River in Mio, Michigan, on Aug. 1, 2024, a 17-year-old boy struggled to stay afloat in the turbulent water that emerged from the powerhouse of the Mio Dam. One of the friends with him tried to pull him from the water while another friend called 911. Responding to the call was on-duty deputy sheriff Ryan Blair, 36, from Fairview, Michigan. Blair drove to the scene, ran to the river, and he dived in where he swam about 100 feet to reach the boy. As Blair tried to help, the boy grabbed him and dragged him under multiple times. Blair wrapped a rescue disc rope around the boy and held onto the end of the rope as he towed him toward the end of a concrete pier. He submerged several times as the boy fought to keep his head above water and the rope became entangled around Blair’s legs and arms. Near the pier, a fisherman and two firefighters in wadable water formed a human chain to pull Blair and the boy to shore. Once there, Blair performed sternum rubs to revive the boy and he vomited water. The boy was taken to a hospital and treated for symptoms related to near drowning. Blair was treated at a hospital for inhaling water and near drowning. He was off work for two weeks while he underwent breathing treatments. He recovered and returned to duty.
Brian K. Patterson
Following a collision on a highway in Midway, Georgia, on July 8, 2022, 11-year-old Alexa Tschantz was trapped in the rear seat of her mother’s burning sedan. The vehicle had collided with a dump truck and struck its fuel tank that caused both vehicles to burst into flames. Driving on the same road and witnessing the accident was 36-year-old aircraft mechanic Brian K. Patterson from Ludowici, Georgia. Patterson and his teenage son exited their vehicle and ran to the sedan where they escorted Alexa’s mother to safety about 50 feet from the vehicle. She told Patterson that Alexa remained in the back seat and he ran back to the burning vehicle. He was able to see Alexa’s left arm from being illuminated by flames amid thick smoke in the passenger cab. Patterson then leaned into the vehicle to his shoulders, grasped Alexa’s left arm, and then pulled her across the seat, out of the vehicle. At that point, he dragged her to safety and removed his shirt in an attempt to smother flames burning on Alexa’s clothing. A bystander arrived with a fire extinguisher and successfully helped Patterson extinguish the flames. Patterson and his son then stayed with Alexa until emergency personnel arrived to transport her to a nearby hospital. Alexa suffered fractures to each of her orbital bones and burns that covered 70 percent of her body. She spent about three months in the hospital recovering from her injuries. Patterson suffered singing to hairs on his arms and face, but did not seek medical attention.
Esperanza Gutierrez, deceased
On Dec. 30, 2024, in Sevierville, Tennessee, 8-year-old Mateo Gutierrez, who was severely autistic and nonverbal, was trapped in his second-floor bedroom as a fire began to spread up the stairs and filled the house with smoke. The fire had originated from the first floor after a kerosene heater overturned in the living room. Mateo was originally with his 15-year-old sister Esperanza Gutierrez when he became frightened by the blaze and ran upstairs to his bedroom. Esperanza, her older brother, and their mother’s friend, who lived in the house, had all exited through a side porch off the kitchen. Esperanza asked where Mateo was and realized he was not with them. She ran back inside the burning house and upstairs to Mateo’s bedroom. The fire then spread up the stairs and flames engulfed the bedroom. Firefighters later found Mateo and Esperanza deceased in Mateo’s bedroom.
Matthew Atchley, deceased
After attempting to retrieve a flotation ring that drifted away from the shore of Lake Anna in Bumpass, Virginia, on May 25, 2024, 14-year-old Tyler D. Atchley began to struggle to stay afloat in the murky, deep water about 100 feet from the shore. His father and quality engineer Matthew Atchley, 41, from Erie, Pennsylvania, was alerted by Tyler’s sister when he responded to the shore. Atchley saw his son struggling in the water and swam out toward him. He reached a point about 10 feet from where Tyler was last seen. Tyler had submerged and Atchley repeatedly submerged in an attempt to locate him. Atchley then started to struggle and submerged again. He did not resurface. Others in the party obtained life jackets and goggles and entered the water to try to locate Atchley and Tyler, but limited visibility in the murky water beneath the surface impeded their efforts. Police and rescue divers arrived to find both Atchley and Tyler. They located them submerged in the cove. They had drowned.
Anderson Chase Childers, deceased
A group of people were caught in a longshore current and a strong rip current in the Atlantic Ocean near Pawleys Island, South Carolina, on July 13, 2025, and could be heard calling for help. Several swimmers were stranded in the crosscurrent about 150 feet from the beach and no lifeguards were stationed. On the beach, 38-year-old contractor Anderson Chase Childers from Dallas, Georgia, was with his wife and three young children when he heard the calls for help. Childers immediately responded and ran into the ocean. He swam out and, ultimately, reached a point beyond some people in the crosscurrent. Police concluded that Childers might have perceived another person was in danger. Another man reacted to Childers’ urgency and also left the beach to swim out. When the man later reached Childers, he was then unresponsive. The man attempted to tow Childers, but they separated in the rough surf. All of the struggling swimmers safely returned to shore, along with the man who had reached Childers. Police, firefighters, and the Coast Guard then searched for Childers. He was later found after he drifted a considerable distance from where he was last seen. He had drowned.
Judd Bronson
Near a partially ice-covered pond on Jan. 27, 2025, in Windsor, Colorado, Tara Vreeland, 41, was walking her two golden retriever dogs when one of the dogs ran out onto the ice after geese. The dog then fell into a 45-foot diameter area of open water about 150 feet from the bank. Vreeland ran onto the ice after the dog, and while on her stomach attempting to retrieve it from the frigid water, her other dog jumped onto her back, causing both her and the second dog to break through the ice. Windsor resident Judd Bronson, 52, chiropractor, was walking on a nearby trail when he heard faint calls for help, then moans, and saw the two dogs and Vreeland struggling to stay afloat. Bronson removed his winter coat and jumped over a short, barbed-wired fence near the walking trail to gather three large sticks. He jumped back over the fence and ran to the edge of the pond, at some point calling out for a bystander to call 911. Bronson began to walk approximately 75 feet out onto the ice. As the ice became thinner, Bronson proceeded to get down on his stomach, using the sticks underneath him to help distribute his weight, and crawled the remaining 75 feet to the unfrozen section of the pond. After realizing that Vreeland was unresponsive and unable to grab onto the stick he was holding out to her, Bronson hooked the stick into the hood of her parka and pulled her toward him. The dogs followed, and while holding onto Vreeland with one arm, Bronson was able to pull both dogs atop the ice. Bronson then was able to repeatedly slide backward a few feet while pulling Vreeland until she was completely out of the water. He dragged her across the ice to the bank where first-responders were waiting. Vreeland was taken to the hospital with a body temperature of 83 degrees. She recovered. Bronson was exhausted and cold as a result of the rescue but was otherwise uninjured.
Sean Hayes
Walking in the hallway of a high school between class periods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Sept. 5, 2024, a 15-year-old girl was approached by another student when they doused her with a bottle full of gasoline. The student then used a lighter to set her on fire and flames quickly spread along the girl’s head and torso. 33-year-old teacher Sean Hayes, from Saskatoon, was in the hallway when the attack occurred. He immediately instructed a co-worker to call 911 and instructed the girl to move to the ground. Hayes moved to his hands and knees beside the girl to try to roll her, but was impeded by her backpack. He then rocked her back and forth to extinguish the flames but that, too, was ineffective. Hayes then attempted to pat out the flames using his hands and realized the flames had jumped to his own clothing. He stood and pressed himself against a set of nearby lockers in an effort to extinguish the flames on him before removing his overshirt and T-shirt. Hayes then used the overshirt to pat out the flames on the girl’s body before requesting a co-worker’s shirt after Hayes’ overshirt had been damaged by the flames. The co-worker handed the shirt to Hayes and he used it to continue patting out the flames. A school police officer arrived after most of the flames were extinguished and relieved Hayes. Flames spread on the hallway floor and Hayes retrieved a discarded fire extinguisher that he used to extinguish puddles of flaming gasoline. Others tended to the girl and emergency personnel transported both the girl and Hayes to a nearby hospital. The girl suffered burns to 40 percent of her body and was hospitalized for about three months. She recovered. Hayes suffered burns to the left side of his body, including his face, neck, side, and hand. He, too, recovered.
Samuel Hardin Adcock and James Alan Garner
On May 23, 2025, Colin McNary, 25, who was severely autistic, ran into the Duck River at a boat ramp in Chickasaw Trace Park in Columbia, Tennessee, and was swept downstream by the current. On the south side of the boat ramp, auto assembly plant tool coordinator Samuel Hardin Adcock, 26, and network engineer James Alan Garner, 41, both from Columbia, were with Garner’s family when they saw McNary get carried downstream. Adcock immediately waded out to the channel and began swimming freestyle downstream to try to catch up to McNary. Garner instructed his two children to leave the water and go to their car. He entered the water and swam downstream to catch up to McNary and Adcock. About 1,000 feet downstream, McNary was swept into a calmer area of the river, where Adcock caught up with him and grabbed him. McNary struggled to stay afloat and submerged Adcock, who pushed McNary away to get air. Adcock stood on an underwater tree limb and grabbed McNary before he pushed him toward the riverbank. Garner had then arrived and positioned himself behind McNary. The two men pushed and pulled McNary to a large tree root on the riverbank, where they waited for first-responders. The riverbank had a steep, rocky ledge that prevented them from climbing up into the woods. Garner swam upstream about 120 feet to find an alternative route to climb out of the river but was unable to locate one and swam back to the others. Garner kept McNary calm until a rescue boat could take him back to the boat ramp, where his parents waited. An ambulance took him to a hospital. The boat then returned to pick up Adcock and Garner. McNary, Adcock, and Garner were tired and cold but not injured. Adcock and his Garner were still wet when they later visited the hospital to check on McNary.
Matthew Lubieniecki
At a marina dock in Portage, Indiana, on July 6, 2025, a 38-year-old man was in electrified water caused by a faulty connection between his boat and the marina’s power source in water about 6.5 feet deep and about 3 feet from the dock. The man had jumped in to help his dog that had slipped from his boat into the water and was in obvious distress. He felt a shock and alerted others, including Matthew Lubieniecki, 52, assistant manager, from Ogden Dunes, Indiana. Upon hearing the man shout and knowing he was being electrocuted, Lubieniecki approached the edge of the dock. He bent over, used one hand to brace himself on the dock surface, and extended his other arm down to the man. Just above the water, the man had his forearms raised and Lubieniecki grasped his right hand to pull him up onto the dock. With his wife, Lubieniecki removed the dog from the water and placed it on the dock. The man was taken to the hospital by an ambulance and it was verified that he was electrocuted. He was treated and released. His dog also survived. Lubieniecki suffered a bite wound on his left hand from the dog as he pulled it from the water and also sustained an injury to his left arm.