25 awarded Carnegie Medal for extraordinary civilian heroism

Posted on by Jewels Phraner

heroismPITTSBURGH, PA, September 28, 2016—In its third of 2016, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today awarded 25 Carnegie Medals in recognition of acts of outstanding civilian heroism. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Three of the awardees died in the performance of their heroic acts.

The heroes announced today bring to 72 the number of awards made to date in 2016 and to 9,893 the total number since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 112 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $38.5 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

The awardees are:

To nominate someone for the CARNEGIE MEDAL, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 1-800-447-8900 (toll free). More information is available on the CARNEGIE MEDAL and the history of the CARNEGIE HERO FUND COMMISSION can be found at carnegiehero.org. Find us on Facebook or Twitter.

DINAH KETURIA MCGEE, deceased

Greeneville, Tennessee

Dinah Keturia McGee died attempting to rescue Linda F. Inscore from burning, Greeneville, Tennessee, July 10, 2015. Inscore, 63, who was infirm, was in her bedroom in the one-story house she shared with her sister, McGee, 67, retired nurse, after fire broke out in an adjacent room. McGee ran more than 200 feet to a neighbor’s house and told the neighbor to call for help, and then she returned to the scene. Despite flames spreading in the wooden structure, McGee entered the house and was not seen outside again. First arriving firefighters were thwarted by deteriorating conditions from making immediate entry. During fire suppression, firefighters located Inscore’s and McGee’s bodies in Inscore’s bedroom. Both had died of thermal burns and smoke inhalation. 87561-9869

CHRISTIAN E. EUCHENHOFER

Greene, New York

Christian E. Euchenhofer rescued Roger G. Quinn from burning, Greene, New York, September 1, 2014. Quinn, 70, was piloting a light-sport airplane when it crash-landed shortly after take-off at a private airport. It came to rest upright in a grassy field and caught fire. Witnessing the crash from the airport, Euchenhofer, 47, airplane mechanic, drove to the scene and ran to the plane, where he found flames engulfing the right side of the craft. He saw Quinn lying partially outside the plane, one leg trapped by the landing gear and the other stuck inside the cabin. Despite fuel leaking from the wing over Quinn, Euchenhofer approached him and freed his leg from the landing gear. He then reached into the cabin with his right arm and freed Quinn’s other leg. Euchenhofer pulled Quinn completely from the plane and dragged him away, flames growing to consume the plane. Quinn required hospital treatment for his injuries, and Euchenhofer sustained minor burns to an arm, from which he recovered. 87169-9870

ROBERT SETH LUDINGTON

Hale, Michigan

KENYA D. BETTY

New Hudson, Michigan

JACOB D. KIRINOVIC

Hale, Michigan

Robert Seth Ludington, Kenya D. Betty, and Jacob D. Kirinovic saved Dorothy J. Bell from burning, Hale, Michigan, August 8, 2014. Bell, 79, was in the kitchen of her one-story house when a massive explosion occurred in the structure. Walls of the house were blown away, and portions of the roof collapsed into it. Bell was pinned to the floor, trapped by debris, near the center of the house. A neighbor, Ludington, 49, responded to the scene after hearing the explosion. He entered the house through its attached garage and called out to any occupants. Hearing Bell’s daughter at the other end of the structure, he exited and with Betty, 38, truck driver, who also had responded, helped her escape the house through a window. Another neighbor, Kirinovic, 23, maintenance worker, responded to the scene, and he closed the service valve of a nearby propane tank. Learning that Bell was still inside, Betty and Kirinovic entered the house through the front door and found her, trapped under the partially collapsed roof, at a point about 10 feet from the door. They could not pull her from the debris. By then the back of the house was on fire, with flames quickly growing and spreading. Ludington had re-entered the house through the garage, and at a point about 15 feet inside, he squatted under the partially collapsed roof and lifted it so that the other men could free Bell. Each grasping her by a hand, Betty and Kirinovic dragged Bell to the front door and outside. As the men fled to safety with her, a wall of the house collapsed, and the interior became engulfed by flames. Bell required four days’ hospitalization for treatment of lacerations and a head injury, and she recovered. 88034-9887 / 88032-9888 / 88033-9889

BRADLEY C. RUNIONS

ADAM JOE MARTIN

Hayward, Wisconsin

Bradley C. Runions and Adam Joe Martin saved Michael W. Remmert from burning, Hayward, Wisconsin, July 6, 2015. Remmert, 42, lay unconscious on the floor of the sunroom of his one-story house after fire broke out in the adjacent kitchen at night and filled the structure with dense smoke. Two neighbors, Runions, 58, disabled railroad worker, and Martin, 32, cook, responded to the scene, where flames were issuing through the house’s kitchen windows. They went to the door that opened to the sunroom; dense smoke poured through the door. Hearing Remmert wheezing from inside the structure, Runions got down onto his stomach, entered the house, and advanced through the sunroom despite the smoke restricting his visibility and inhibiting his breathing. He found Remmert at the opposite end of the room, near an opening to the kitchen. Runions grasped Remmert and pulled on him, standing in his efforts to move him. When he called for help, Martin ran into the sunroom, grasped Remmert by the arms, and with Runions dragged him through the door and from the house. Remmert required hospitalization for treatment of smoke inhalation. Runions also received hospital treatment for inhaling smoke, and he recovered. 87534-9872 / 87535-9873

BRANNON D. HEATHMAN

Temecula, California

Brannon D. Heathman helped to rescue Karen S. Murdock and Jill D. C. Watkins from burning, Oceanside, California, December 16, 2014. Murdock, 62, and Watkins, 53, lay unconscious on the floor of a second-story apartment after fire broke out in the living room at night and filled the unit with dense smoke. On duty, Heathman, 37, police officer, responded to the scene. Finding the door to the apartment open, Heathman crawled inside, despite the smoke, and saw Murdock in a bedroom not far from the apartment door. He entered the room, grasped Murdock, and dragged her from the apartment. A man who lived at the complex then took Heathman’s flashlight and, staying low, crawled into the apartment and found Watkins. Heathman re-entered the unit, crawled to Watkins, and with the other man grasped him and dragged him outside to safety. Murdock and Watkins were hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation and burns. Heathman also received hospital treatment for smoke inhalation, and he recovered. 87085-9874

MITCHELL ALLAN WILLIAMS

St. Pauls, North Carolina

Mitchell Allan Williams rescued James E. Davis from attacking dogs, St. Pauls, North Carolina, June 20, 2015. Davis, 73, was in his front yard when one of three pit bulls that had entered the fenced-in property jumped on him, took him to the ground, and began to maul him. Williams, 28, grounds technician, was working across the street when he was alerted to the attack. Taking a pitchfork with him, he ran to the scene and repeatedly struck and poked the dog, an adult male, with the pitchfork. The dogs then turned on Williams, biting him severely on an upper arm and on one of his feet. When he was then able to climb onto the roof of a car that was parked on the property’s driveway, the male dog attempted to get up onto the car. The other dogs left the yard as neighbors responded and kept the male dog at bay, soon dispatching it. Davis and Williams were taken to the hospital for treatment of severe bite wounds, Williams’s requiring sutures and causing him to miss a month’s work. 87569-9875

JUSTIN LEE GREENWALD

Calabasas, California

Justin Lee Greenwald saved Ronald L. Lallone from burning, Calabasas, California, November 29, 2015. Lallone, 81, was asleep in a bedroom in one end of his mobile home after fire broke out at night, at the opposite end. Flames spread quickly, blocking the front door, and filled the structure with smoke. A neighbor, Justin, 17, high school student, responded to the scene from his nearby home. He approached the burning structure’s side door and, finding it locked, punched out the glass and then forced the door open with his shoulder. Justin entered the house to flames that were spreading in the living room and, assuming that Lallone was in his bedroom, turned into the hall that accessed the bedrooms. He entered Lallone’s bedroom, pulled Lallone to his feet, and, supporting him, guided him to the side door and outside to safety. Flames grew and destroyed the house. Justin suffered cuts to his right hand and feet but did not require medical treatment. He recovered. 88092-9876

KEONI BOWTHORPE

Haleiwa, Hawaii

Keoni Bowthorpe rescued Colin W. Cook from a shark attack, Haleiwa, Hawaii, October 9, 2015. Cook, 25, was surfing in the Pacific Ocean at a point about 600 feet from shore when a tiger shark about 11 feet long attacked him, severing his left leg above the knee and inflicting severe hand injury. Standing on a paddle board in the water about 500 feet away, Bowthorpe, 33, filmmaker, witnessed the attack and immediately went to Cook, who by then had gotten back onto his board in the bloodied water. As he neared Cook, Bowthorpe saw that the shark was still in the immediate vicinity. When the shark approached them, Bowthorpe thrust one end of his paddle against it to push it away. Cook moved to Bowthorpe’s board but ended up in the water, and Bowthorpe then lay prone atop the board and pulled Cook onto his back. With Cook holding to him as best he could, Bowthorpe paddled about 1,300 feet over an indirect course to shore, having to stop a few times to secure Cook. In wadable water, another man helped pull Bowthorpe and Cook to the beach. Bowthorpe and others then carried Cook to the highway, from which he was taken to the hospital. Cook was detained there for treatment of severe injuries and was later fitted with a prosthetic leg. Bowthorpe was fatigued but uninjured. 87776-9877

JAMESON BARTSCHER

Aberdeen, South Dakota

TODD D. CLAUSEN

Sioux City, Iowa

Jameson Bartscher and Todd D. Clausen rescued Cassidy J. Wanna from burning, and Bartscher rescued Gabrielle G. Wanna and Rebecca L. Stoughton, Summit, South Dakota, June 9, 2015. Cassidy, 2 months, and his great-aunt, Stoughton, 53, were passengers in a sport utility vehicle that their relative, Wanna, 23, was driving on an interstate highway when fire broke out at the rear of the vehicle. As the car lost power, Wanna pulled onto the shoulder, and flames rose several feet above the rear of the vehicle and spread toward its front. Thick smoke filled the car. Bartscher, 30, public works employee, and Clausen, 44, sales representative, both motorists, stopped at the scene. Using a fire extinguisher from his work truck, Bartscher pushed the flames away from the passenger side of the vehicle until the extinguisher was emptied. He then used the bottom of the extinguisher to strike the window of the rear, passenger-side door, breaking it. Together, Bartscher and Clausen freed Cassidy through the window, with Clausen unbuckling the baby from his car seat and carrying him away. Bartscher then opened that door, partially entered the vehicle, and, grasping Wanna, pulled her to safety. Re-entering, he aided Stoughton to escape after freeing her from an entanglement. Fire quickly engulfed the vehicle, destroying it. Cassidy, Wanna, and Stoughton required hospital treatment for burns and smoke inhalation. Bartscher recovered from minor cuts to his arms, and Clausen from minor burns. 87644-9878 / 87643-9879

MICHAEL J. MANLEY, SR., deceased

Wilmington, Delaware

Michael J. Manley, Sr., died attempting to save Andrew Short from drowning, Virginia Beach, Virginia, September 27, 2015. While swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, Andrew, 17, was caught by a strong current that took him farther from shore and kept him from returning in the rough surf. From the beach, his mother’s partner, Manley, 43, heavy equipment operator, waded and then swam to a point near him. He calmed Andrew and then instructed him on how to return to shore. Andrew followed his directions and safely returned to the beach, where he collapsed. Manley, however, began to struggle in the water. Firefighters as well as a police officer arrived, entered the water, and attempted to rescue Manley, but conditions were too rough, and they were pulled back to shore. Manley’s body washed ashore shortly. He could not be revived, as he had drowned. 87731-9880

MATTHEW R. BARTHOLOMEW

Midlothian, Virginia

Matthew R. Bartholomew helped to save Joyce A. Byrd from drowning, Midlothian, Virginia, February 16, 2015. Byrd, 65, remained in the driver’s seat of a sedan after it left the roadway in wintry conditions and entered a retention pond that at the time was covered with thin ice. The vehicle floated upright, its rear about 10 feet from the closer bank, and then started to submerge nose first in the 10-foot-deep water. Driving by, Bartholomew, 44, physician, saw the car in the water, stopped at the scene, and, descending the bank, learned that the car was occupied. Despite the air temperature of 18 degrees, with a wind-chill in the single digits, and the water at freezing, Bartholomew removed his shirt, entered the pond, and swam to the vehicle’s driver’s door. He tried unsuccessfully to open it and break out its window. When the door submerged, he was able to open it, but he could not locate Byrd, nor could he find the rear door’s interior handle. Bartholomew then swam toward the bank, where a responding police officer gave him a police baton and one end of a rescue rope. Returning to the vehicle, much of it having submerged by then, Bartholomew broke out the rear window with the baton, and when Byrd’s head then emerged through the opening, he grasped her by the jacket and pulled her from the vehicle. He supported her as the officer pulled them to the bank with the rope. Byrd required hospital treatment for hypothermia and a cut to her hand. Bartholomew also received hospital treatment, for cuts to an arm and to a finger, which required suturing. He and Byrd recovered. 87711-9881

SCOTT R. WILLIAMS

Berlin, Vermont

Scott R. Williams attempted to rescue Lara K. Sobel from assault, Barre, Vermont, August 7, 2015. Sobel, 48, was walking in the parking lot of a commercial building when an enraged woman armed with a .270-caliber hunting rifle approached and shot her at close range. Sobel fell to the pavement. Williams, 50, attorney, was on the ground floor of the building when he heard the shot. Looking through a nearby window, he saw the assailant standing over Sobel. Williams immediately ran about 40 feet to a door that accessed the parking lot, en route hearing a second shot. Leaving the building, he approached the assailant, shouting at her and attracting her attention. When Williams reached the assailant, he grabbed the rifle from her, disabled it, and set it aside. He then kept himself between Sobel and the assailant, verbally engaging her. Others soon responded and secured the assailant, holding her until police arrived. Williams tended to Sobel, whose wounds were fatal. 87788-9882

STEVEN MICHAEL HILL

Inkster, Michigan

Steven Michael Hill rescued Avalyn D. Dufek from burning, Jacksonville, Florida, November 20, 2015. Avalyn, 1, was strapped into a car seat that was secured to the passenger side of the backseat of a sport utility vehicle being driven on an interstate highway by her father. In a violent nighttime accident, the vehicle left the roadway, struck two trees, and came to rest upright along an access road bordering the highway. Flames broke out at the rear of the vehicle, which was demolished, and spread to its passenger compartment. Hill, 45, mover, was the passenger of a truck approaching the scene on the access road. He left the truck, went to the driver’s side of the burning vehicle, and saw Avalyn in her car seat. As the driver’s door and roof were missing, Hill entered the vehicle through the door opening and stepped over Avalyn’s father to stand on the center console. He reached back to Avalyn’s car seat, despite flames behind and next to it, and with difficulty worked to free the straps that secured Avalyn. He then lifted Avalyn from the car seat, stepped from the vehicle, and took her to safety as flames spread in the passenger compartment. Avalyn was hospitalized for treatment of burns and other injuries, and her father died in the accident. Hill sustained burns to his right arm, and he recovered. 87879-9883

KEVIN SCOTT JOHNSON II, deceased

Flat Gap, Kentucky

Kevin Scott Johnson II died attempting to save Willa M. Pennington from drowning, Flat Gap, Kentucky, July 13, 2015. Pennington, 74, was inside her mobile home as severe thunderstorms moved through the vicinity, causing nearby Big Mudlick Creek to flood. Her grandson, Johnson, 34, store clerk, responded to the scene to aid her and other family members and had just entered the mobile home to remove her when a surge of floodwater lifted it from its foundation. As the current was washing the mobile home away, Johnson exited to the rear porch, holding Pennington. They jumped into the water together, followed by a boy who had been inside the structure. All three held each other until they were able to grab onto a tree. When a wooden structure floated by, Johnson placed Pennington on it, and the boy climbed atop it, Johnson remaining in the water. They were swept farther downstream and were separated. The boy climbed a tree from which he was later rescued. Search crews found Pennington’s body the following day and Johnson’s three days later. He had drowned. 87583-9884

KENNETH F. SMITH

Milford, Delaware

Kenneth F. Smith rescued James A. Daisey from burning, Lincoln, Delaware, May 20, 2014. Daisey, 65, was driving a dump truck on a two-lane highway when a speeding car entered his lane. The vehicles collided. The dump truck overturned onto its passenger side in a ditch off the highway shoulder, and the car came to rest upright at the front of the truck. Flames broke out there. Remaining conscious, Daisey stood on the passenger door and attempted to open the driver’s door. Smith, 48, business operator, had been driving behind Daisey and witnessed the accident. He left his vehicle and was attempting to aid the driver of the car when he became aware that Daisey was trapped in the cab of the truck. Smith ran to the truck, climbed up the wreckage of the cab, and stood on its driver’s side next to the door. He opened the door wide and saw Daisey inside. Extending an arm into the cab, Smith grasped Daisey and helped him from the cab through the doorway. By then, flames had started to enter the cab near the passenger door. Smith returned to the ground, aided Daisey off the truck, and took him to safety. Flames grew to engulf the interior of the cab, which was destroyed. Daisey was taken to the hospital for treatment of a mild burn and other minor injuries, and Smith inhaled smoke and sustained lacerations to his arms. They recovered. The driver of the car died at the scene. 86608-9885

LEYTON PAGE

Bogalusa, Louisiana

Leyton Page helped to save Jacob W. Morris and John W. Morgan from drowning, Bush, Louisiana, March 28, 2015. Jacob, 8, and his brother, John, 6, were thrown into the Bogue Chitto River after the flat-bottomed boat they and others were occupying drifted over a low-head dam and capsized. Wearing life jackets, the boys were trapped in the boil of water at the base of the dam. Seeing them in distress from downstream, another boater, Leyton, 16, high school student, took his flat-bottomed boat to the scene and entered the boil with it. He attempted to lift one of the boys into his boat, but he lost his grip as the backwash pulled the boat to the dam. Leyton’s boat also capsized there, submerging him. Surfacing, he used his boat as a buoy and maneuvered to Jacob and John, who grabbed onto him and his life jacket. He held to the boys and to his overturned boat, which he kept between them and the dam to blunt the water’s strong flow. Others responding by boat pulled Jacob, John, and Leyton from the water and took them to safety at the bank. Jacob and John received hospital treatment for hypothermia, and they recovered. 87288-9886

ISBEL JIMENEZ

Winters, Texas

Isbel Jimenez saved Jeannette Marshall from burning, Breckenridge, Texas, September 16, 2015. Marshall, 59, was in her mobile home at night after a fire broke out in its living room. At his home nearby, Jimenez, 47, pipefitter, saw flames issuing from the structure and immediately responded to the scene, where he learned from others that Marshall was still inside. As flames were blocking the mobile home’s front door, Jimenez propped a board against the structure and used it as a step to access a small window, the base of which was about five feet off the ground. Jimenez entered the mobile home through the window, finding himself in a bathroom, where heat was intense and the smoke severely restricted visibility. He searched for Marshall, finding her unresponsive on the floor in that room. Maneuvering her to the window, he lifted her and handed her out to two police officers who had responded. They lowered her to the ground, after which Jimenez escaped to safety through the window. Both Marshall and Jimenez received hospital treatment for smoke inhalation, and they recovered. 87777-9890

PATRICK J. HOPKINS IV

Newberry, Florida

Patrick J. Hopkins IV helped to save Kimberly Y. Foster from burning, Gainesville, Florida, June 26, 2015. Foster, 30, was in a bedroom of her family’s one-story house after fire broke out in the adjoining kitchen at night. Flames spread throughout much of the structure and filled Foster’s bedroom with dense smoke. On duty in the vicinity, Hopkins, 26, police officer, and his partner responded to the scene, flames by then having breached the roof of the house. Learning that Foster was still inside the structure but blocked by flames from entering through its front doors, the officers broke out a window to Foster’s bedroom. Boosted by the other officer, Hopkins climbed through the window into the room, where the dense smoke severely restricted visibility. Crawling, he felt for Foster, crossing the bed to find her unconscious on the floor. Hopkins lifted Foster and in a bear hug pulled her across the bed and to the window, where he attempted to get a breath of air. He then maneuvered her head first through the window to his partner and another officer who had responded, and they took her to safety. Aided by his partner, Hopkins left the burning house through the window. He and Foster were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, Hopkins’s including abrasions and minor smoke inhalation, from which he recovered. 87505-9871

ADRIAN GALLO

JOE L. SERRANO

Tucson, Arizona

Adrian Gallo and Joe L. Serrano saved Lyndelle H. Watkins from burning, Tucson, Arizona, May 16, 2015. Watkins, 69, was the driver of a pickup truck that was struck head on by another pickup. Both vehicles left the roadway, came to rest on the shoulder only a few feet apart, and broke into flames in their engine areas. Severely injured and unconscious, Watkins remained in her driver’s seat, trapped in the wreckage. On duty, Gallo, 34, deputy sheriff, responded to the scene. Entering the space between the burning vehicles, he tried to open the driver’s door of Watkins’s pickup, but it was jammed shut. He then reached through the window, cut off Watkins’s safety belt, and pulled on her but could not free her. Gallo then went to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened that door. Entering, he pulled on Watkins but again could not move her, as her legs were trapped. He exited the vehicle and returned to its driver’s side, another deputy sheriff, Serrano, 36, responding about then. After the men tried without success to open the driver’s door, Serrano positioned his patrol car at the burning pickup and, with a winch line that he attached to the door, forced it open. He and Gallo reached through the doorway, grasped Watkins, and pulled her from the vehicle, flames then burning at the dashboard. Watkins required hospitalization for treatment of her injuries, from which she died four days later. Gallo was taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke exposure and a minor burn, and he recovered. 87763-9891 / 87764-9892

CHRISTOPHER CHMIELNICKI

Henryville, Pennsylvania

Christopher Chmielnicki helped to save Brenda D. Jelley from burning, Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, September 18, 2015. Jelley, 50, was asleep in the bedroom of a 37-foot motorhome that her boyfriend was driving through a business district. Alerted to smoke issuing from the motorhome’s engine, which was at the rear of the vehicle, the boyfriend pulled over and exited to look at the engine and then returned toward the door for a fire extinguisher. Jelley woke up to smoke in the room, which also was at the rear of the vehicle. She went to the floor because of the heavy smoke but then lost consciousness. At a business nearby, Chmielnicki, 34, was alerted, and he ran to the scene, where he learned that Jelley was still inside the vehicle. He entered, went to the floor, and crawled toward the rear of the motorhome until he located Jelley. Securing a hold on her, Chmielnicki took her to the door, where with help he took Jelley down the motorhome’s steps and outside to safety. Meanwhile, flames that had broken out on the motorhome grew quickly, spreading to engulf the vehicle, set fire to a car it was towing, and reach overhead power lines. Both Jelley and Chmielnicki suffered smoke inhalation that required hospital treatment. 87708-9893