The family of 15-year-old Amari Quarles held a ceremony in mid-September to honor his heroic sacrifice and posthumous Carnegie hero designation at Natomas High School in Sacramento, California, where Amari attended. Speaking at the event was Amari’s father, James Sashe; Natomas Principal Marcel Baker; Sacramento Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes; and Sacramento Fire Department Chief Chris Costamagna.
In June 2023, Amari died after saving his 13-year-old brother from drowning.
While playing at a beach with his family in Sacramento, Elijah J. Sashe attempted to retrieve a football that landed in the Sacramento River when he fell into the water and was taken farther out by a strong current. Amari saw his brother struggle and jumped into the cold water where he swam to reach him. Elijah was about 90 feet from the bank, but by the time Amari reached Elijah, the current had pulled him to a point that was about 180 feet from the bank. Amari positioned himself behind his brother, pushing him to keep him out of a nearby eddy.
News outlets after the incident noted that Elijah reported that Amari’s last words were, “One of us is going to go under, and I’m going to make sure it’s not you.”
The boys’ father and stepmother also entered the river, but the father struggled in the strong current and swam back to the bank. The stepmother reached Elijah and held onto him. She saw Amari struggling about 20 feet away and decided to release Elijah. She told him to float before she swam to Amari. Both were pulled into the eddy and Amari submerged. He did not resurface. As a man in a boat responded, the boat’s wake pushed the stepmother out of the eddy and the boater aided Elijah and the stepmother onto the boat. Both were then taken back to the river bank. Elijah was uninjured. Police divers found Amari’s body not far from where he was last seen. He had drowned.
Many of the members who spoke honored his selfless act of bravery and the significance of his actions to earn the recognition of the medal.
“We’re here today to honor the memory of a remarkable individual, Amari Quarles, and to present him with the Carnegie Medal of heroism,” said Marcel Baker. “This medal is awarded to those who risk their own lives to an extraordinary degree to save others.”
“We’re here tonight to remember him and what he did,” said Chief Costamagna. “Putting himself before everything else and that’s exactly what the Carnegie Medal is about.”
“Now, I say to you my son, Amari Quarles, that I have the honor to call you ‘sir’. For all heroes to me are ma’am or sir,” James Sashe said in a message to his son. “I thank you sir, for the choice you made that day. Heroes live forever, forever Amari lives.”
“To everyone here in the audience, I’m very sorry for your loss,” said Vice Mayor Talamantes. “But I know that you’re going to use that sadness, and everything you’ve gone through, to do more good in the world because I already see you in action.”
Following the presentation, in a video, he and Amari’s stepmother, Yolanda Sashe, warned about the dangers of swimming and that conditions can be uncontrollable, even for the strongest swimmers. They ended with a message of pride for Amari.
“For Amari, we couldn’t be more proud of him,” said Sashe. “We thank him everyday for what he did.”
