Carnegie Hero Fund President Eric Zahren presented the Carnegie Medal to the family of firefighter Mark Anthony Batista on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the New York City Fire Department Engine 226 in Brooklyn.
Batista was awarded the medal in June after he died attempting to save his daughter from drowning on June 9, 2023, at Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey.
Batista’s daughter, Leann, who was 11 years old at the time, was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean when she began to struggle amid a rip current in cold water. She was about 75 feet away from shore. She began to wave her arms near a rocky jetty and screamed for help. Batista, 39, was on the beach when he saw his daughter struggle and immediately ran to the shoreline. Batista removed his sweatshirt, entered the water, and swam to his daughter as she was taken farther from shore by the current. She repeatedly submerged and resurfaced.
Leann indicated that her father reached her, grasped her hand, and tried to swim with her back to shore, but the current prevented them from returning to shore. At some point, Batista released Leann’s hand and submerged and he did not resurface. Leann, too, submerged and resurfaced several more times before rescue swimmers entered the water. She was brought to shore and had swallowed a significant amount of water. She was taken to the hospital to have her lungs monitored and was released the next day. She recovered. A search for Batista was initiated and he was found about 90 minutes later near the jetty. He had drowned.
Zahren spoke in front of Batista’s family where he emphasized that the actions he took that day only further proved the hero he already and to merit the medal
“(Mark was already a hero) — but it was on that day that Mark became a Carnegie hero, for his selfless actions and ultimate sacrifice – not as a first responder, but as a human being and father,” Zahren said.
Batista’s widow and Leann’s mother, Lenin Batista, accepted the medal alongside her daughter.