U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin of Florida presented the Carnegie Medal to A.J. Slater at a small presentation held at Franklin’s district office in Lakeland, Florida, on Sept. 23.
Slater rescued a 3-year-old boy and attempted to save a 5-year-old girl from a burning vehicle in Lakeland on Nov. 7, 2024.
After a car left a residential roadway and crashed into a tree, flames broke out at the car’s front end with 3-year-old Walker Wills and his 5-year-old sister, JoLynn Wills, in car seats in the backseat. Their father was injured in the accident when he exited the car, fell to the ground, and called for someone to help his children. Slater, then 30, was driving nearby when he saw the scene and approached as flames rose 4 feet from the hood of the car. Slater opened the rear, driver’s-side door and leaned inside where he could only see Walker’s knees in the closest car seat through the thick smoke. Flames burned at the dashboard as Slater unbuckled Walker from the car seat, lifted him out, and set him down in grass nearby.
Seeing Walker’s sister in another car seat, Slater climbed into the backseat area and sat between the car seats. He struggled to remove the sister from her seat as the fire spread toward the front-seat headrests. Slater sustained burns to his hands, a shoulder and ear, which caused him to briefly exit the vehicle. When he returned, conditions had deteriorated and he could not save the girl.
Slater moved Walker, and then dragged the father, farther away from the blaze. Firefighters soon responded to the scene and extinguished the fire. JoLynn, who remained inside the car, did not survive. Walker was burned on his face and right arm. He was hospitalized for 11 days. Slater was also hospitalized for 11 days and underwent two skin graft surgeries to help his hands heal.
“Honored to present A.J. Slater of Lakeland with the Carnegie Hero Fund Medal for his incredible bravery,” said Franklin on Facebook. “He risked his life to save a child from a burning car. Heroes like A.J. remind us of the strength and selflessness in our community.”
Slater was joined by friends and family at the presentation to accept the medal. In a Facebook post, Slater’s friend Jennifer Esposito Mojica praised his courage and willingness to enter a dangerous situation to save the life of another.
“That day in November, when others would have turned away from the flames, you RAN straight into them. You risked your own life to save another. You endured pain and still do from the burns,” she said. “The world needs more people like you, AJ.”
