Two Kenosha County, Wisconsin, sheriff’s deputies were presented the Carnegie Medal for Heroism at a Nov. 19 ceremony held at the county administration building. Sheriff David Zoerner, second left, presented deputies Christopher Bischoff and Kelsey Schwuchow with the award.
The deputies were recognized with the honor after they saved two sisters playing in the water and their mother from drowning in Lake Michigan on Aug. 27, 2023.
The two girls fought to remain above the surface in the choppy current when their stepmother entered the water to help them, but she also began to struggle in the water. Off-duty officers Bischoff and Schwuchow were on the beach when they were alerted to the situation. Both waded into the surf and swam out to the girls. Bischoff reached one girl and tucked her against his body, while Schwuchow went to her sister and grabbed onto her. Bischoff attempted to swim toward shore but had difficulty swimming with the panicked girl. He quickly tired after he struggled toward shallow water as he held her above the surface. He swallowed water, resurfaced, and separated from the girl. Schwuchow tried to swim with the panicked sister toward shore, but she too was separated from the girl who remained near her sister and stepmother. As the waves moved both girls closer to shore, Bischoff regained a hold of the girl he initially helped, towed her into wadable water, and she returned to the beach. Schwuchow grasped the sister’s arm and pulled her to Bischoff’s partner to guide her back to the beach. Schwuchow then swam to the stepmother, who was floating on her back, and dragged her into shallow water to be helped by her partner and Bischoff. Both girls and the stepmother were taken to a hospital for treatment. Bischoff and Schwuchow were nearly exhausted and went to the hospital as a precaution, where they were discharged that evening.
“You don’t really think about it, you just do it because that’s what we’ve been trained to do,” Bischoff said. “There wasn’t a second thought. We were gonna do what we could to help those girls.”
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department posted to Facebook to recognize the two officers for their bravery and show their appreciation.
“Deputy Schwuchow and Deputy Bischoff, it is an honor to work alongside you both! You both saved three lives that day and represented the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department to its highest standards and traditions, going above and beyond the call of duty.”
Both Deputy Bischoff and Deputy Schwuchow said they are honored by the recognition.
“It’s a tremendous feeling, honestly, it’s fantastic. So it’s a huge honor to be recognized by that foundation for the things that we did that day,” Bischoff said.