The Carnegie Hero Fund is honored to recognize 17 individuals, including a trained water rescuer who entered a capsized boat when other professional rescuers were unable, a recreational rock climber who ascended slick sandstone to save a badly injured BASE jumper in Utah, and a 40-year-old delivery driver who ran into a gunfight to drag a wounded police officer to safety in Texas.
All the men and women recognized today, in acts of extraordinary heroism, risked serious injury or death to save others. This is the Hero Fund’s first award announcement for 2024. Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.
Other rescuers this quarter include a college wrestler that pulled an attacking grizzly bear off his friend to then be attacked himself, a woman who put herself between another woman and four attacking pit bulls, and a man who rammed his tractor into a burning home to remove the woman unconscious inside.
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 10,422 individuals since the inception of the Pittsburgh-based Fund in 1904. Those in public safety vocations must go beyond their line of duty to be considered. Relevant training or specialized skills on the part of the rescuer are considered against the requirement of extraordinary risk.
Each of the recipients or their survivors will receive a financial grant. Throughout the 120 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $45 million has been given in one time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance
The awardees are:
Jeffrey A. Hilke, Jefferson City, Missouri
Scott E. Duncan, Kansas City, Missouri
River Barry, Millcreek, Utah
Robert J. Selfridge III, Harvey Cedars, New Jersey
Bruce J. Lake, Truro, Nova Scotia
Kendell Bybee Cummings, Evanston, Wyoming
Junyi Liu, Comox, British Columbia
Ashley Harkins, Westbrook, Connecticut
Stephen Harder, Quincy, Washington
John Phillips Lally, Jr., Houston
Jeffrey Tanner, Lima, New York
Wegayewu S. Faris, deceased, Coralville, Iowa
James John Vlacich, Ridge, New York
Michael Louis Lesan, Cincinnati
Robyn Handley, Florissant, Missouri
Tawny Hinton, deceased, Bentonville, Arkansas
Jakob Thompson, Lantana, Florida
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, Instagram, and Twitter.