22 in U.S., Canada awarded Carnegie Medal for acts of extraordinary civilian heroism

Posted on by Carnegie Hero Fund

PITTSBURGH, PA, October 3, 2013—In its third award announcement of 2013, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today named 22 individuals as recipients of the CARNEGIE MEDAL. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. One of the awardees, Jeffery Scott Dinkins, died in the performance of his heroic act.

The heroes announced today bring to 9,633 the number of awards made since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission President Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 109 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $35.4 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

The awardees are:

Resumes of the acts follow. To nominate someone for the CARNEGIE MEDAL, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 1-800-447-8900 (toll free). Fuller information on the CARNEGIE MEDAL and the history of the CARNEGIE HERO FUND COMMISSION can be found at www.carnegiehero.org


THOMAS ST. JOHN HARDING
Mays Landing, New Jersey
Thomas St. John Harding rescued Steve J. Felice from assault, Elmer, New Jersey, April 8, 2011. Felice, 44, a police officer, was attempting to arrest a man at night along a rural highway. Resisting, the man struggled against him, taking them to the pavement, where the man removed Felice’s handgun from its holster. The two men fought for control of the gun. Harding, 51, private investigator, drove upon the scene and saw the men struggling. Learning from Felice that the assailant had his gun, Harding approached the men, knelt, and pried the assailant’s hand from the weapon. Felice returned the gun to its holster and with Harding continued to struggle against the assailant until they were able to handcuff him. Harding sustained a sore back, from which he recovered.
84725-9612
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WILLIAM SMITH
Fairview, New Jersey
William Smith saved Stanislau J. Kavalsky from burning, Hackensack, New Jersey, February 28, 2012. Stopped at an intersection while driving, Kavalsky, 82, remained in the driver’s seat of his car after fire broke out in the front passenger-seat area and filled the car with dense smoke. Seeing the smoke, Smith, 31, retail shop employee, left his place of employment nearby and responded to the car to investigate. He went to the driver’s door and told Kavalsky to exit the vehicle. When he would not, Smith opened the door, leaned into the vehicle, and freed Kavalsky of his safety belt, flames by then spreading to the back-seat area of the car and growing in the front-seat area. Having to pry Kavalsky’s hands from the steering wheel, Smith lifted Kavalsky from the vehicle and walked him quickly to safety. Within seconds, one of several oxygen cylinders in the car’s passenger compartment exploded, followed shortly by two others, damaging vehicles and a building in the vicinity and injuring responding police and a firefighter. Kavalsky required hospitalization, but Smith was not injured.
84750-9613
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DAVID B. MAYO
Tecumseh, Ontario
David B. Mayo helped to save Marcian G. Cotter from drowning, Penetanguishene, Ontario, August 11, 2011. Cotter, 49, became distressed while swimming in Georgian Bay off a provincial park beach. He shouted for help, attracting the attention of other beachgoers, including Mayo, 45, teacher. The beach and that part of the bay were rocky, and high winds fostered three-foot waves. Mayo picked up a short surfboard from nearby and entered the water. He paddled over the submerged rocks and then swam toward Cotter, who was about 300 feet from shore. Reaching Cotter, he extended the board to him, and Cotter grasped and held to it. Also holding to the board, Mayo swam a backstroke toward shore, towing Cotter. In wadable water Mayo was aided by others in removing Cotter, who was exhausted, to the beach. Cotter was taken to the hospital for treatment. Mayo sustained lacerations and contusions to his feet, from which he recovered.
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MARCELINO M. OROZCO
Long Beach, California
Marcelino M. Orozco rescued Apolinar Correa from assault, Bellflower, California, August 19, 2011. Correa, 54, was working at a desk in the front office of a business when a man entered, approached him, and, pointing a loaded 12-gauge shotgun at him, demanded money. Correa stepped to the cash register and opened it, the assailant following, keeping him at gunpoint. As the assailant removed money from the register, Correa grasped the barrel of the gun and tried to wrest it from him. A struggle ensued, during which the assailant went to the floor, still in possession of the gun. About then, Orozco, 44, a delivery driver for the establishment, entered the office. He immediately advanced to Correa and the assailant and, standing over the assailant, grasped him by the head and put his knee into the assailant’s back to immobilize him as Correa maintained his struggle and succeeded in disarming him. Orozco and Correa kept the assailant to the floor until police arrived shortly and arrested him.
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JEFFERY SCOTT DINKINS, deceased
Lewisville, North Carolina
Jeffery Scott Dinkins died after helping to save a girl from drowning, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, July 7, 2011. A 6-year-old girl and her father were wading in the Atlantic Ocean when they were caught in a current that took them into deeper water. With them were family friends Dinkins, 41, college student, and his young son. Dinkins was able to take his son to the beach, but the girl and her father made no progress against the current. Dinkins returned to them, reaching them at a point about 150 feet from shore. He took the girl from her father and started to swim to shore with her but en route encountered difficulty and began to struggle. Others, including his wife, took the girl to safety, and her father also reached shore safely. Two men, one with a surfboard, swam out to aid Dinkins, who had lost consciousness. He was returned to shore on the surfboard, but resuscitation efforts were not successful. He drowned.
84598-9618
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CLARENCE M. BROOKS, JR.
Highland Village, Texas
Clarence M. Brooks, Jr., helped to save David D. Baker from drowning, Highland Village, Texas, March 2, 2012. Attempting to swim after his boat, which had slipped its mooring at a dock along the bank of Lewisville Lake, Baker, 55, lost consciousness and floated face down at a point about 150 feet from the bank. Brooks, 44, business operator, had just removed his boat from the lake on a ramp at the scene and was alerted to the situation. Taking a flotation device from his boat with him but not removing any of his attire, Brooks entered the 53-degree water and swam out to Baker, who also was fully clothed. He turned Baker onto his back, grasped him around the neck, and, still holding to the flotation device, started to kick back to the bank. Weighed down by his attire, including boots, Brooks found the going slow, and he tired. Park rangers on a boat that was nearby responded to the men and towed them the remaining distance to the bank. Brooks and others pulled Baker to the ramp and resuscitated him, and he was then taken to the hospital for treatment of having nearly drowned. He recovered. Brooks was cold and nearly exhausted after the rescue, and he too recovered.
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KEVIN PRATT
Milwaukie, Oregon
Kevin Pratt saved Wayne L. Howe from drowning, Portland, Oregon, March 4, 2012. Fully clothed, Howe, 37, struggled to stay afloat while attempting to swim from the bank of the Willamette River to a dock about 100 feet out. Bicycling, Pratt, 31, care provider and college student, was on the bank in the vicinity and saw Howe’s difficulty. He ran to the river, removed his outer attire, and dived into the 42-degree water. Pratt swam to Howe, reaching him at a point about 75 feet from the bank, grasped him, and stroked back to the bank, towing him. He dragged Howe, who was unconscious by then, from the water and worked to revive him. Howe was hospitalized two days for treatment of nearly drowning, and he recovered. Pratt was cold after the rescue but did not require medical treatment.
84758-9617
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NICHOLAS A. HAYS
East Wenatchee, Washington
Nicholas A. Hays saved Quennia S. Calixto-Negrette from drowning, Wenatchee, Washington, May 28, 2012. In a group of friends, Quennia, 13, jumped from a dock into the Columbia River and with another girl was pulled downstream by the swift current. Unable to return to safety, she shouted for help. Nicholas, 16, student, was in another party on the bank at the scene. Becoming aware of the situation, he ran several hundred feet along the river to a point opposite Quennia and then removed his shirt and entered the 52-degree water. As the other girl had submerged by then, Nicholas waded and swam to Quennia, who was about 75 feet from the bank. He grabbed her by the wrist and then pulled her to himself and wrapped his left arm around hers. Stroking with his free arm, Nicholas towed Quennia to the bank. The other girl drowned.
85187-9622
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BRADLEY A. BOWMAN
Mablevale, Arkansas
Bradley A. Bowman helped to save Cynthia L. Brady from burning, Dallas, Texas, February 7, 2012. Unconscious, Brady, 60, remained in the driver’s seat of her automobile after a highway accident in which the car struck a pickup truck from behind. The pickup burst into flame and came to rest partially atop the hood of Brady’s car. Bowman, 35, security officer, was at work nearby and witnessed the accident. He responded to the scene and approached the driver’s side of the car, despite flames 15 feet high that engulfed the pickup. Although Bowman could open the driver’s door, flames rolling across the windshield of the car and intense heat thwarted his attempt to reach Brady. After another unsuccessful attempt, Bowman went to the passenger side of the car and tried to open the front door, but it was locked. He then kicked the window of the door repeatedly until it broke out. Bowman leaned into the car, which was filled with smoke, grasped Brady, and pulled her to the passenger side. Two other men joined him, and among them they pulled Brady from the car, through the window, and carried her to safety. Flames engulfed the car moments later. Brady was taken to the hospital for treatment of her injuries, and Bowman was treated at the scene for a cut and minor burns. He recovered.
84701-9615
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JAMES PHILIP SNIDER
Clarksville, Tennessee
PETER WEATHERFORD
Clarksville, Tennessee
James Philip Snider saved Tyler J. Farrow, Matthew S. Williams, and Amy R. Stringer from burning and with Peter Weatherford attempted to rescue Jackson H. Amos, Clarksville, Tennessee, August 28, 2011. Tyler, 17; Williams, 18; Amy, 17; and Amos, 18, remained inside the automobile in which they were traveling after the vehicle left a rural road and crashed in an adjoining field. Flames erupted in the car’s engine compartment, and dense smoke filled its interior. Snider, 50, school teacher and athletic coach, drove upon the scene and stopped. He opened the car’s rear passenger-side door, reached inside, and pulled out Tyler, who was unconscious. When Williams started to emerge from the vehicle on his own, Snider aided him to safety. Snider then fully entered the vehicle and, sitting on the back seat, dislodged Amy from the wreckage and pulled her out. With flames starting to enter the passenger compartment at the dashboard, Snider opened the rear door on the driver’s side and, calling to others at the scene for help, returned inside. He attempted to pull Amos, the driver, into the back seat, but Amos also was trapped in the wreckage, by a foot. A man who lived near the scene, Weatherford, 52, had responded, and he joined Snider at the car. He opened the front door on the passenger side and felt for Amos, and then he went to the driver’s door, opened it, and leaned inside. Despite the nearby flames, which were growing, he freed Amos and, withdrawing from the car, helped Snider pull him out. Tyler and Williams required hospital treatment for their injuries, but Amy and Amos died at the scene. Snider sustained minor burns and cuts, from which he recovered.
84323-9619 / 84322-9620
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JOHN NASH HALE
Toms River, New Jersey
John Nash Hale attempted to rescue Jeffrey E. Lenox from attacking dogs, Toms River, New Jersey, January 14, 2013. Lenox, 45, was taking a pre-dawn walk when two adult pit bull dogs, weighing 85 and 65 pounds, charged and attacked him. They took him to the ground and bit him repeatedly as he screamed for help and attempted to fight them off. His screams alerted Hale, 59, mortgage banker, whose house was at the scene. Lenox regained his footing and continued to fight the dogs as he made his way to another house in the neighborhood and gained entry. Hale, meanwhile, exited his house and, with visibility limited by darkness and fog, started toward the sound of the attack, calling out if help was needed. The dogs then ran to Hale and attacked him. They took him to the pavement and bit him repeatedly about his arm and legs. Hale screamed for help as he attempted to fight the dogs off. Hearing his screams, Lenox and the man whose house he had entered ran toward Hale, their presence distracting the dogs, allowing Hale to return to his house. Lenox and Hale were both treated at the hospital for their bite wounds, Hale requiring sutures.
85573-9621
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STEVEN M. ENNS
Estevan, Saskatchewan
Steven M. Enns saved Brent A. Mortimer and a boy from burning, Estevan, Saskatchewan, May 18, 2012. Mortimer, 24, and a 2-year-old boy were asleep in second-floor bedrooms of a two-story house after fire broke out at night on the structure’s rear exterior and spread into the walls. Enns, 28, a police officer on duty, saw smoke issuing from the scene and responded, seeing flames extending up the back of the house as he approached. His banging on the front door awakened the boy’s mother, who told him that the boy and Mortimer were on the second floor. Enns entered the house and after a search located the staircase and ascended. By then, flames had broken into the rear of the structure and smoke was intensifying throughout it. Enns entered the boy’s bedroom and picked him up from his crib. Shielding the boy’s face, Enns entered the next bedroom carrying him and awakened Mortimer. Mortimer and Enns, with the boy, fled downstairs and outside to safety, the smoke by then precluding visibility. Enns suffered minor smoke inhalation and recovered in a day.
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JEREMY DAY
Sidney, Maine
Jeremy Day helped to save a girl from burning, Windsor, Maine, November 15, 2012. A 17-year-old girl was the passenger of an automobile that was in a head-on collision with another vehicle. She was trapped in the wreckage and tangled in her safety belt. Day, 38, sheriff’s deputy, responded to the scene, where others were attempting to open the car’s passenger door. When flames that had erupted intensified, men at the scene broke out the car’s rear window. Day climbed through the window into the rear of the passenger compartment and positioned himself between the car’s front seats. Flames by then were entering the vehicle at the dashboard. Day used one hand to bat out the flames that were threatening the girl and the other to free her from her safety belt. He then freed her legs from the wreckage and, directing others at the scene to use a fire extinguisher and a garden hose against the flames, pulled her to the rear compartment. As she was yet caught by a foot, Day extended his body back toward the dashboard and released it. Others pulled the girl through the rear window to safety, Day also leaving the vehicle through the window. The girl required hospital treatment for her injuries, as did Day, who sustained smoke inhalation and minor cuts. He recovered.
85350-9623
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PATRICK J. RIMOSHYTUS
Warren, Rhode Island
Patrick J. Rimoshytus helped to rescue Carolyn Corbett from burning, Warren, Rhode Island, December 19, 2012. Corbett, 68, remained in the driver’s seat of her car after the vehicle struck the car stopped in front of it. Her car remained in acceleration, causing its spinning front wheels to erode to their rims, dig into the asphalt, and start a fire in the vehicle’s undercarriage. Flames soon spread into the passenger compartment. Driving nearby, Rimoshytus, 43, retired firefighter, saw smoke at the scene and stopped. Donning a firefighter helmet and jacket that he had been transporting, he went to the driver’s door of the burning car, but flames issuing from its undercarriage and heat drove him back. He then approached the passenger side of the vehicle, opened the front door, and leaned inside. Unsuccessful in his attempt to unlatch Corbett’s safety belt, Rimoshytus withdrew to search for a knife. He then returned to the passenger door and entered the vehicle again, that time kneeling on the front passenger seat. By then, flames had grown and spread to Corbett’s attire. He grasped Corbett around the torso and pulled her, free of her safety belt by then, toward him. When he called for help, others at the scene reached inside the vehicle, grasped Rimoshytus by the arms, and pulled him with Corbett out of the car and to the ground. Flames grew quickly to engulf the interior of the car. Corbett was hospitalized for treatment of extensive burns and died two days later. Rimoshytus was hospitalized overnight for treatment of first- and second-degree burns, to his legs and right hand. He recovered.
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JOHN CODY CLARK
Vancouver, Washington
John Cody Clark helped to save a boy from drowning, Rockaway Beach, Oregon, July 1, 2012. A 12-year-old boy was struggling in the Pacific Ocean at a point about 150 feet from shore. John, 17, high school student, had just arrived at the beach and was alerted to the situation. He removed his shirt and shoes, entered the 55-degree water, and swam to the boy. Panicky, the boy grasped and submerged him. They resurfaced, and John calmed him. Establishing a hold of the boy, John attempted to swim back to shore with him but could not make any progress against a strong current and buffeting waves, which submerged them repeatedly. They were pulled farther from shore. After several minutes, rescue personnel who had been called reached them on a personal watercraft and returned them to safety. Both John and the boy were taken to the hospital for treatment. John was cold and dehydrated, and he recovered the next day.
85118-9625
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CHRISTOPHER E. WILLIAMS
Gallipolis, Ohio
Christopher E. Williams saved Samuel L. Dust from burning, Gallipolis, Ohio, October 10, 2012. Samuel, 3, was asleep in the master bedroom at one end of his family’s mobile home after a fire broke out in the kitchen, at the opposite end. A neighbor, Williams, 35, saw smoke issuing from the structure and responded to it. He pounded on the mobile home’s front door and then ran to the back door and pounded on it, alerting Samuel’s mother, who also had been asleep. Hearing Samuel’s mother at the door, Williams pried it open and pulled her out. When he learned that Samuel remained inside, Williams entered the structure in search of him but was repulsed by smoke, which precluded visibility. On a second entry, he went through a hall and found Samuel in the doorway to the master bedroom. He picked Samuel up and carried him outside to safety. Believing a second child was in the home, Williams re-entered it repeatedly, making his way toward the fire, but he was repulsed by deteriorating conditions each time and then learned that everyone was out of the structure. Flames soon engulfed the mobile home, destroying it. Neither Williams nor Samuel was injured.
85279-9626
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THOMAS R. NIELSEN
Louisville, Kentucky
JAMES B. TERRY
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Thomas R. Nielsen and James B. Terry saved Irmagene S. Lambert from burning, Louisville, Kentucky, January 6, 2012. Lambert, 70, remained in the driver’s seat of her car after an accident at night in which the vehicle left the highway, entered the grassy median, and struck a cable barrier. The car came to rest against the barrier, its engine running, and fire soon broke out in the engine compartment and spread beneath the vehicle. Motorists, including Nielsen, 43, groundskeeper, and Terry, 51, stopped at the scene. With the car’s doors locked, Nielsen pummeled the driver’s window and yelled to Lambert to open the door, but she did not respond. Terry pulled one of the barrier’s posts from the ground, and with it the men broke out the window of the car’s front passenger door and opened the door. Nielsen then crawled onto the front passenger seat and with Terry, who leaned into the car beside him, attempted to pull Lambert from the driver’s seat. With difficulty, they moved Lambert closer to the passenger side of the car, but flames spreading from beneath the vehicle caused them to withdraw. After Nielsen used two fire extinguishers against the flames, reducing them somewhat, he and Terry re-entered the vehicle and resumed their efforts in behalf of Lambert despite deteriorating conditions inside the car. They pulled on Lambert until she was free of the vehicle and then with others carried her away from it. Within moments flames entered the car’s interior. Neither Lambert nor Nielsen or Terry was injured.
84670-9627 / 84729-9628
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PIERRE JOHNSON
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Pierre Johnson saved Audrey A. Stewart from burning, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, May 17, 2012. Stewart, 91, was in a wheelchair in a second-floor bedroom at one end of her family’s home after fire broke out in an attached garage at the other end. Winds drove the flames into the residence, blocking entry through the front door. Johnson, 33, who lived nearby, responded to the scene, where he learned that Stewart was still inside the house and on the second floor. He went to a living room window at the front of the structure, punched through its screen and glass, and, hoisting himself up to the sill, climbed inside. Johnson crossed the smoke-filled living room to the stairway and ascended to the second floor. After looking for Stewart in one bedroom and then the bathroom, he found her in another bedroom. He picked her up and, carrying her, returned to the stairs, descended to the first floor, and went back to the window. He placed Stewart on a chair while he moved furniture away from the window and then handed her through the window to others outside. Johnson then exited the window to safety. Both he and Stewart were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
84989-9629
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BRIAN D. LOZIER
Sterling, New York
Brian D. Lozier rescued John A. Crandon from an attacking bull, Cato, New York, August 19, 2012. When Crandon, 43, entered a pasture to tend one of his cows, his 1,100-pound Jersey bull charged and attacked him, taking him to the ground and ramming him in the chest repeatedly with its head. Unable to escape, he screamed for help. Lozier, 23, carpenter, was about 1,200 feet away and heard Crandon’s screams. He started on foot toward the scene and about halfway there saw the attack. Calling 911, he ran to a wire fence along the edge of the pasture, picked up a few rocks and threw them at the bull, but to no effect. Lozier then grasped a four-foot length of two-by-four board from nearby, stepped over strands of the fence, and approached Crandon and the bull, then about 10 feet away. He threw the board at the bull, striking it on the back. The bull left Crandon and went to the barn, and Crandon crawled from the pasture, Lozier joining him to drag him farther away. Crandon required hospitalization for treatment of significant injuries.
85363-9630
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WARREN L. WOOD, JR.
Crozet, Virginia
Warren L. Wood, Jr., rescued Jessica M. Lewis and Amber L. Johnson from burning and attempted to save Michael W. Johnson, Crozet, Virginia, November 10, 2011. Lewis, 36, was the driver of an automobile that left the roadway, struck a tree, and caught fire at its front end. She was trapped in the wreckage, as were her daughter, Amber, 20, who was in the front passenger seat, and Michael, 40, who was in the back seat. A volunteer firefighter who lived nearby, Wood, 45, facilities manager, responded to the scene on being alerted to the accident. Without donning protective gear or waiting for backup, he approached the burning vehicle, reached through the opened driver’s door, and freed Lewis’s foot from the pedals. He lifted her from the car and then re-entered it and knelt on the driver’s seat. He reached over and freed Amber’s feet from folds in the wreckage and, backing, pulled her from the vehicle. Despite flames spreading into the interior of the vehicle from the dashboard and igniting the front passenger seat, Wood re-entered the vehicle again, through the rear door on the driver’s side. He grasped Michael by the belt and pulled him out of the vehicle. Flames grew shortly to engulf the car. Lewis and Amber were taken to the hospital, where Lewis was treated for injuries, including third-degree burns. Amber did not survive the accident, nor did Michael.
84558-9614
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