Carnegie Hero Lilly Baker was presented the Carnegie Medal on Sunday, April 12, at her church, Kelly’s Creek Baptist Church in Ardmore, Tennessee, with her family and friends in attendance. Left photo: From left, Warren Herring, a mentor to Baker, presented the award to her.
Baker was awarded the medal in September 2025 after she rescued a woman from the path of an oncoming train in Ardmore on Feb. 5, 2024.
At a railroad crossing, a 53-year-old woman struggled to walk across a set of train tracks while pushing her wheelchair in front of her. At the same time, a freight train approached at approximately 35 m.p.h., but it could not yet be heard or seen from the scene. Baker, 18, from Elkmont, Alabama, was driving nearby and stopped to offer the woman a ride. Baker exited her vehicle to move toward the woman, but as she reached her the crossing arms came down, the bells and train horn sounded, and the train continued to rapidly approach. She moved behind the woman, grabbed her under the arms, spun her around, and began to walk backward while dragging her. Baker fell down twice but stood up about halfway to again grab the woman under her arms. She pulled as hard as she could as the two of them fell to the ground beside the tracks as the train passed and hit the woman’s legs. The woman was taken by ambulance to a hospital where she was treated for two broken ankles and severe lacerations on her legs. She recovered. Baker was not injured. Herring was surprised when he learned that Baker wanted him to present the medal, not realizing how much he had impacted her right after the incident.
“Warren actually helped me out a lot after everything happened,” she said. “He is a really kind man to me who did a lot and means a lot. It would be an honor and a blessing to have him present it to me.”
The affection is mutual, with Herring telling the Hero Fund how honored he was to present the award.
Following the service and presentation, the sister of the woman Baker saved was in the audience and came up to speak with Baker. Right photo: Rose Lynn Jones, right, thanked Baker for saving her sister’s life in what Herring described as a humbling and touching moment.
