Hero Fund President Eric Zahren presented Carnegie Hero Christine Dawn King with the Carnegie Medal at a Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Council Meeting held Feb. 26. Pictured is Zahren, King, and her husband Joseph.
King, then 52, was driving on I-95 in Philadelphia on July 28, 2022, when she came upon a man holding his 18-month-old daughter over the ledge of an overpass threatening to drop her to a concrete parking lot 40 feet below. The girl’s mother attempted to yank her daughter from his grasp, but couldn’t. King, of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, stopped at the scene and grasped the assailant’s torso, pleading with him to give the girl to her. The assailant, who was armed with a concealed handgun, threatened to shoot King. While she backed away from him, she continued begging for him to hand over the girl. The assailant turned and, again, held the girl over the ledge. King wrapped her arms around his torso again to prevent him from dropping the baby. The mother also held onto her daughter. Police arrived shortly, and, while being held at gunpoint, the assailant gave the girl to the officer before he was taken into custody.
A recent throat operation prevented King from speaking at the presentation, but her husband spoke in her behalf:
“On behalf of my brave and always-willing-to-help wife, we want to take this time to say thanks to the governing body here as well as the Carnegie group for taking the time to recognize her effort in saving someone’s life,” he said. “She always says she would do it again if she had the (opportunity).”