Texas State Police Lt. Daniel Crooks presented the Carnegie Medal to state Trooper George W. Greenway IV at a March 17 presentation held at the Texas Department of Public Safety in Mount Pleasant, Texas.
Greenway was awarded the medal in September 2025 after a Sept. 5, 2024, water rescue where he saved a woman from drowning in El Paso, Texas.
At night, a 27-year-old woman had fallen from the border fence separating El Paso and Mexico into the American Canal. As she was carried downstream, she grabbed hold of a cable that was strung across the canal about 80 feet upstream from the headgates of a wastewater treatment plant, where others had drowned in recent months. State trooper George W. Greenway IV, 45, was sitting in his patrol car a mile upstream when he heard the woman scream. Greenway had received a text from his sergeant to be on the lookout for a woman who might have been swept into the canal. He found a border agent who opened the border fence gate for him and soon heard crying behind the fence. Greenway shined his flashlight through the fence and saw the woman in the middle of the canal clinging to the cable. Without hesitation, Greenway moved to help the woman and removed his duty belt. He jumped into the canal and used the cable to pull himself hand-over-hand to the woman. As he continued to fight the current, Greenway grabbed the woman with one arm, told the border agent to instruct her to let go, and wrapped his legs around her as she went limp. He grabbed the cable with both hands as he secured the woman between his legs and pulled her toward a steep embankment. Greenway released his grip of the cable and grabbed a rebar step before he hoisted the woman up the step to a level surface. An ambulance soon arrived and took the woman to a hospital. Greenway was not injured.
The Texas Department of Public Safety posted on Facebook to congratulate Greenway for the reception of his medal and his bravery saving a life.
“Yesterday, Trooper George Greenway was awarded the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Medal, recognizing his extraordinary courage and selfless action in saving a life. Lieutenant Crooks presented the honor on behalf of the Commission, marking a proud moment for Trooper Greenway, his family, and Texas DPS. We are grateful for his bravery and unwavering commitment to others.”