The family of Joseph Hugh West received his posthumously awarded Carnegie Medal at a private presentation held on Oct. 12, 2025, at the Rocky Fork Christian Church in Sanford, North Carolina. The Wests’ pastor, the Rev. Phillip Hare, left, presented the medal to, from left, West’s widow, Jeanne West; their granddaughter, Paisley Joe Godfrey; and their daughter, Sammie Jo West Godfrey.
West was honored with the medal in March 2025 after he died helping to save a girl from drowning at Kure Beach, North Carolina, on July 1, 2023.
A young girl struggled to swim in at least 6 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean amid a rip current just off a sandbar about 150 feet from shore. West, 58, was on the beach nearby with several friends and family when he saw the girl and two others struggling to swim. West told a male friend to retrieve a life ring from a nearby aid station while he and two female friends entered the water. The conditions worsened farther from shore, and one of the women was forced to exit the water. West and the other woman continued to swim toward the struggling swimmers along with the male friend who had the life ring. The trio eventually reached the distressed swimmers. West swam to the girl while the man and woman assisted the other two swimmers. West reached the girl and requested the life ring, which was thrown to him by one of the friends and he successfully delivered the ring to the girl and another man who had swum out to her separately. Eyewitnesses on the beach indicated that West was then pulled farther from shore and out of sight by the rip current. The male friend managed to swim one of the people in danger to shore just as emergency personnel responded and assisted the remaining swimmers to safety, including the girl. West was located unconscious minutes later by emergency personnel. He had drowned.
There to accept the medal was West’s widow Jeanne West, his daughter Sammie Jo West Godfrey, and their granddaughter Paisley Joe Godfrey.