The son of Carnegie Hero Horace William Drennan III, Hayden Drennan, displays his father’s Carnegie Medal after the Dec. 20 ceremony held at Memphis (Tennessee) City Hall. Drennan drowned Aug. 9, 2022, while attempting to save a 9-year-boy who was swept into a flooded culvert.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young presented the posthumously awarded medal to 8-year-old Hayden.
“I’m honored to be able to present the Carnegie Hero Fund medal to his son Hayden today, and share this experience of recognizing the heroic acts of your father,” Young said.
At the presentation, Young read the official citation recounting Drennan’s actions:
At a municipal park in Germantown, Tennessee, the 9-year-old boy fell into the concrete drainage ditch that was overflowing with stormwater. The water surged into a narrow culvert beneath a road. Nearby coaching practice for his son’s flag football team, was 37-year-old Drennan of Memphis. Drennan did not know the boy or his family. Regardless, he moved into the ditch to help the boy, who had been sucked through the culvert and carried out through the other end into a creek that ran through a heavily wooded area. The boy’s father and others did not immediately know the 9-year-old’s location. They responded to the ditch and struggled to pull Drennan from the rushing water. The strength of the water caused Drennan and the father to be swept through the culvert, where the father found his frightened son. The two of them exited the creek safely and the boy was taken to a hospital for scrapes and scratches. Firefighters and police officers searched the scene and found Drennan’s submerged body in the creek about 70 feet past the culvert. He had drowned.
“This was exactly who Will was,” said Lauren Drennan, Hayden’s mother. “Everything he was is this award. If he is here or not here, he was always the person who would be there for you whenever you needed something.”
Drennan’s friend, Matt Young, also spoke at the presentation.
“Will has the type of character that was going to do that without hesitation,” Matt Young said.
