Carnegie Medal presentation to Carnegie Hero Andrea L. Harris

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey honored Andrea L. Harris Oct. 9, 2019, in a ceremony in her office in Montgomery. Ivey presented Harris with the Carnegie Medal and a commendation. “Folks like you make Alabama special,” Ivey told Harris.

On July 27, 2018, Harris, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., stopped at the scene of an overturned and burning car off a rural highway in Coker, Ala. Harris laid on his stomach at the rear, passenger-side door and broke its window with his hand. He then crawled through the window into the smoke-filled car, grasped a 7-month-old boy, and withdrew from the car with him. Flames grew and spread as Harris carried the boy to his mother.

“I think you called it ‘ordinary,’ but I’ll tell you what, you’re very impressive at what you did,” Ivey said.