The Carnegie Hero Fund is honored to recognize 18 individuals, including four women who saved their friend from an attacking cougar, five members of law enforcement, and a physician and a pastor who rushed and tackled a shooter who opened fire in the social hall of a church occupied by at least 45 people.
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 second award announcement for 2024. Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.
Other rescuers this quarter include two plumbers who died attempting to save two young family members who fell through thin ice covering Humboldt Lake in Saskatchewan, a veterinary nurse who pulled a 14-year-old from rough water in Lake Michigan, and a 26-year-old man who chased off assailants who were holding a man at gunpoint in Washington, DC.
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 10,440 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 120 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, nearly $45 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
The awardees are:
Daniel Rose, Sterling Heights, Michigan
David Chapman, Detroit
Antwaun M. Jackson, deceased, Jacksonville, North Carolina
Christopher Novecosky, deceased, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Joseph Novecosky, deceased, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
John Parks, Washington, District of Columbia
Sara Schaller, Hammond, Indiana
Kevin James Schell, deceased, Bracebridge, Ontario
John Cheng, deceased, Laguna Nigel, California
Billy Chang, Taipei City, Taiwan
Rolando Rene Caballero, deceased, Port Arthur, Texas
Christopher Bischoff, Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kelsey Schwuchow, Kenosha, Wisconsin
Daniel L. Weiss, Stokesdale, North Carolina
Annie Bilotta, Seattle
Tisch Schmidt-Williams, North Bend, Washington
Aune Tietz, Seattle
Erica Wolf, Seattle
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.