In its second announcement of 2022, the Carnegie Hero Fund is proud to recognize 16 civilians who risked their lives to save others, including a retired NFL defensive end who entered a burning semi-truck to save its driver, a man who removed his prosthetic lower leg before entering 50-degree water to pull a man from a submerging SUV, and a business owner who drowned attempting to save a woman in what witnesses described as impossible conditions.
Each of these 16 individuals will receive the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.
Among those saved by this quarter’s awardees were a 51-year-old mother whose 27-year-old son was badly burned rescuing her from her burning home, a motorist in distress who remained in his vehicle stuck on a railroad track with a train approaching, and two children who, in two separate acts, struggled to stay afloat in rough water.
The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this announcement, the Carnegie Medal has been awarded to 10,307 individuals since the inception of the Pittsburgh-based Fund in 1904.
Each of the recipients or their survivors will receive a financial grant. Throughout the 118 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, almost $44 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
The awardees are:
Jacob M. Smith, Tulalip, Washington
William Werts, Jr., New Castle, Delaware
Darnell J. Wilson, Rochester, New York
Katelynn Saengdala, Kitchener, Ontario
Wyatt Tucker Shields, Atlanta
Jason R. Milks, Astoria, Oregon
Andrew Parent, Oneida, New York
Roger Combs, Oneida, New York
Anthony Stephen Capuano, Jersey City, New Jersey
Antonio Raul Rivera, Bolingbrook, Illinois
Lewis A. Medina, Aurora, Illinois
Anthony Peterkin, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Jaden DeShawn Peterkin, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Ross C. Johnson, Jacksonville, Florida
Adam Layman Thomas, deceased, Louisville, Kentucky
Brandon Bair, St. Anthony, Idaho
To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online or write to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. More information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at carnegiehero.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.