From left, volunteer presenter Charles S. Harris of Ooltewah, Tenn., looks on as the family of Jeromy E. Richardson, — brother Cory Richardson, mother Robin Richardson, and father Eric Richardson – accepts the Carnegie Medal on Jeromy E. Richardson’s behalf at a ceremony held June 10, 2017, at Courthouse Square in Jasper, Tenn.
In July 2015, Richardson died while attempting to save a man from drowning at a low-head dam spanning the Sequatchie River near Whitwell, Tenn. Richardson was at the bank, when he saw that another man was caught in the rolling boil at the base of the dam. From the top of the dam, Richardson extended a board to the man, but lost his footing and fell into the boil, drowning, along with the man he was trying to save.
“Jeromy E. Richardson is a true hero in every sense of the word,” Harris said during the presentation. “He unselfishly – without any real thought of his destiny – put his life on the line for a stranger in trouble.”
Richardson’s family as well as the parents of the man Richardson attempted to save attended the presentation.
Harris was awarded the Carnegie Medal himself, in 1963, for a water rescue. Read more.
Related articles:
- Carnegie Medal for Heroism presentation to Joseph D. Donnell
- Carnegie Medal for Heroism presentation to Robert M. Wilson, Jr. and Andrew Reischl
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Tyler Badet
- Carnegie Medal for Heroism presentation to the family of Anthony Diehl
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Stephen Rhodes
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Mickey Wilson
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Gerold Prather
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Lloyd Muldrow
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Kealii J. Akahane
- Carnegie Medal presentation to Kendall Reyes
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