17 individuals named Carnegie heroes for extraordinary acts of heroism

The Carnegie Hero Fund is honored to recognize 17 individuals, including a husband who positioned himself between his wife and an attacking shark in the Gulf of Mexico off of South Padre Island, Texas; a 15-year-old student who drowned attempting to rescue his little brother in the Sacramento River; and two police officers, who, in separate rescues in Vermont and Ontario, pulled people to safety after they had fallen through ice into frigid water.

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 first award announcement for 2025. Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.

Among those saved by this quarter’s Carnegie Medal recipients were seven children, including a 5-year-old girl who, trapped in a quickly spreading barn fire, had retreated to a utility sink full of water and three toddlers strapped in their car seats in burning cars.

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 10,493 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, more than $45 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

The recipients are:

A.J. Slater  Lakeland, Florida
Alec Christian Larson  Rifle, Colorado
Jeffrey Schmidt  Gig Harbor, Washington
John Reinhardt  Athens, Alabama
Cary Daniel Sullivent  Celina, Texas
Amari Quarles, deceased,  Sacramento, California
Michelle Archer  Williston, Vermont
Troy White  Brentwood, California
Steven Jacob Shannon  Houston
Devin John Moore  Greensburg, Indiana
Justin Scott Slater  Toledo, Ohio
Joseph Hugh West, deceased,  Sanford, North Carolina
Jared Moore  Pembroke, Ontario
Lynn William Segebart  Lantana, Florida
Charles J. Sergel  Java Village, New York
Gary J. Lawson  Santa Rosa, California
Cody M. McCready  Santa Rosa, California

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete an online nomination form at carnegiehero.org 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: facebook.com/carnegiehero, Instagram: @carnegiehero, and Twitter: @carnegie_hero.

A.J. Slater

After a car left a Lakeland, Florida, residential roadway and crashed into a tree on Nov. 7, 2024, flames broke out at the car’s front end with 3-year-old Walker Wills and his 5-year-old sister, JoLynn Wills, in car seats in the back-seat area. Their father was injured in the accident, exited the car, fell to the ground, and called for someone to help his children. Lakeland heavy equipment operator A.J. Slater, 30, was driving nearby when he saw the scene. As flames rose about 4 feet from the hood of the car, Slater opened the rear, driver’s-side door and leaned inside. Despite heavy smoke making it hard to see, Slater saw Walker’s knees in the closest car seat. Flames burned at the dashboard as Slater unbuckled Walker from the car seat, lifted him out of the seat, and set him down in grass nearby. Seeing Walker’s sister in another car seat, Slater climbed into the backseat area and sat between the car seats. He struggled to remove the sister from her seat as the fire spread toward the front-seat headrests. Sustaining burns to his hands, a shoulder and ear, Slater briefly exited the vehicle. When he returned, conditions had deteriorated and he could not save the girl. Slater moved Walker, and then dragged the father, farther away from the blaze. Firefighters soon responded to the scene and extinguished the fire. JoLynn, who remained inside the car, did not survive. Walker was burned on his face and right arm. He was hospitalized for 11 days. Slater was also hospitalized for 11 days and underwent two skin graft surgeries to help his hands heal. At the time of the Hero Fund investigation, he was still recovering from his injuries.

Alec Christian Larson

After a head-on crash in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on April 11, 2024,  Jessica Tucker, 30, and her infant son remained inside her vehicle as flames ignited under the engine compartment from gas spilled on the roadway. Tucker had been badly injured with several broken bones while her son was strapped in his car seat. Carpet cleaner Alec Christian Larson, 27, from Rifle, Colorado, was in his work van with a co-worker when he saw the aftermath of the accident and responded, bringing a pair of scissors with him. He opened the driver’s door and helped Tucker out of the vehicle, who called out that her baby was still inside, as bystanders moved her away to safety. The flames on the roadway grew in intensity and the vehicle caught fire. Larson attempted to open the rear, driver’s-side door but was unable to do so. He ran to the back of the vehicle to open its hatch and saw the infant in a rear-facing child seat on the driver’s side. Larson climbed into the trunk area as the flames intensified. He fumbled to unbuckle the car seat before he cut the straps with scissors. Larson grabbed the infant and pulled him outside to safety. He handed the infant to bystanders, who carried him away from the burning wreck. About 10 seconds later, the vehicle was engulfed in flames. Tucker was hospitalized but not burned. The infant and Larson both avoided injuries. 

Jeffrey Schmidt

A 36-year-old truck driver was trapped inside of a burning tractor trailer after it overturned on an exit ramp and fell onto the shoulder of an Auburn, Washington, highway on May 2, 2022. Thick smoke threatened to suffocate him as flames began to burn his lower body. Among the motorists who stopped as the fire broke out was 30-year-old Jeffrey Schmidt, a nonprofit career coordinator from Gig Harbor, Washington. Learning the driver was still inside, he moved to the cab’s rear, where he kicked the window behind the driver’s seat, but was unable to break it open. Schmidt shouted for something to break the window and was handed a hammer by an unidentified man. He broke the window and crouched to reach inside. Schmidt grasped the driver’s body as the heat inside felt like reaching into an oven, he said. He repeatedly tugged at the driver, but could not free him. Schmidt suffered cuts and burns to his hands. Dark smoke issued through the window openings and melting plastic dripped onto Schmidt’s clothing. Another man joined Schmidt, reaching inside and grabbing an arm. Together, both men pulled the driver out of the cab and onto the shoulder. With help from others, Schmidt moved the driver to safety on a hillside, where they waited for arriving first-responders. The driver was hospitalized for three months and suffered burns on about half of his body, the worst of which were on his legs and feet. Schmidt, who served in the Marine Corps, was treated at a Veterans Affairs hospital for a blistering burn on his lower, right leg, as well as the cuts and burns to his hands.

John Reinhardt

Caleb Bennett, 32, was fishing on a kayak in the Elk River in Elkmont, Alabama, on March 29, 2024, when the kayak overturned, tossing Bennett in the frigid water, where he struggled to swim. He attempted to swim across and exit the river, but he grew tired and managed to grasp a low-hanging tree branch that extended from the riverbank. Bennett fired multiple distress signal shots from a pistol he carried. In the vicinity was 40-year-old information technology project manager John Reinhardt from Athens, Alabama, who heard the gunshots as he exited his truck, recognizing the distress signal. Reinhardt told his children to stay in the truck and then searched along the riverbank for anyone in trouble. He saw Bennett grasping the branch 40 feet from the bank, returned to his truck to call 911, and fashioned a makeshift flotation device with a garbage bag and duct tape. He returned to the riverbank with his 13-year-old daughter. Reinhardt told her to call 911 again while he removed most of his clothes and entered the water with the garbage bag. He swam 40 feet to Bennett and gave the garbage bag to him. Reinhardt instructed Bennett to move to his back and wrap his arm around his shoulders. Reinhardt then swam with Bennett, who lost the garbage bag along the way. Reinhardt managed to swim to an exposed cluster of roots along the riverbank. The two men clung to the roots to keep from being swept downstream until a sheriff’s department sergeant and a firefighter arrived. It took several attempts but they were able to use a rope and ratchet strap to hoist Bennett up the steep riverbank to emergency personnel. They transported him to a hospital where he was treated for cold exposure and recovered. Reinhardt was cold but otherwise unharmed.

Cary Daniel Sullivent

In the Gulf of Mexico near South Padre Island, Texas, on July 4, 2024, Tabatha Sullivent, 47, waded in waist-deep water 150 feet from shore when an 8-foot-long bull shark took a bite out of her calf. She pushed the shark away with her hands and tried to swim toward shore while bleeding badly. Her husband, Cary Daniel Sullivent, 49, was sitting on the beach when he saw Tabatha in distress and sprinted into the surf to get to her. Bystanders ran into the water to help as Cary, a construction company owner of Celina, Texas, saw blood and grasped Tabatha at a point 75 feet from shore. As he pulled her toward shore, the shark attacked again. Upon a friend’s warning, Cary released his wife and turned to face the shark. At some point, the shark bit Cary’s leg. Cary dove onto the shark and landed a punch on its gill. He drove the shark away and waded toward shore to help others pull Tabatha onto the beach. Tabatha underwent surgeries and physical therapy to regain the partial use of her leg. Cary suffered gashes below his right knee and on his right foot, and a puncture wound on his right calf. He recovered.

Amari Quarles, deceased

While playing at a beach with his family in Sacramento, California, on June 4, 2023, 13-year-old Elijah J. Sashe attempted to retrieve a football that landed in the Sacramento River. The young teen stepped off the bank, fell into the water, and was taken farther out by a strong current. His brother, 15-year-old Amari Quarles, a student of Sacramento, saw his brother struggle and jumped into the cold water where he swam to reach him. Elijah was about 90 feet from the bank, but by the time Amari reached Elijah, the current had pulled him to a point that was about 180 feet from the bank. Amari positioned himself behind his brother, pushing him to keep him out of a nearby eddy. The boys’ father and stepmother also entered the river, but the father struggled in the strong current and swam back to the bank. The stepmother reached Elijah and held onto him. She saw Amari struggling about 20 feet away and decided to release Elijah. She told him to float before she swam to Amari. Both were pulled into the eddy and Amari submerged. He did not resurface. As a man in a boat responded, the boat’s wake pushed the stepmother out of the eddy. The boater aided Elijah and the stepmother onto the boat where both were then taken back to the river bank. Elijah was uninjured. Police divers found Amari’s body not far from where he was last seen. He had drowned.

Michelle Archer

An 8-year-old girl was playing on an ice-covered pond in Cambridge, Vermont, on Dec. 17, 2023, when she broke through and fell into the frigid water. State trooper Michelle Archer, 32, of Williston, Vermont, was patrolling nearby when she heard the 911 call and responded to the scene. Archer entered the pond fully clothed and held a rescue bag with rope and a small flotation device. She waded out and swam to the unconscious girl floating on her back in water 8 feet deep. Archer grasped the girl’s jacket and held her above the water as she towed her toward the bank. Once in shallow water, Archer grasped the girl under her arms and dragged her onto the bank. She laid her on her back and began to perform a chest compression. The girl made audible noises as another trooper who responded took her to a waiting ambulance while Archer exited the pond. The girl was taken to the hospital where she stayed three days for treatment of hypothermia and near-drowning. Archer was cold after the rescue but did not seek medical treatment.

Troy White

A 3-year-old girl was trapped inside a burning car after an Antioch, California, crash on May 21, 2024.  The car had come to rest on the shoulder of a highway, overturned onto its passenger side. Maintenance worker Troy White, 40, from Brentwood, California, was driving nearby when he came upon the scene. He pulled over and ran to the vehicle just as the girl’s mother climbed through the driver’s window. She ran toward him and called out for help as he approached. The undercarriage burned near the engine compartment as the flames increased in height and intensity. White ran around the vehicle to the roof and jumped up. He supported himself on the rear, driver’s-side door frame and leaned inside, upside-down, through a broken window opening. The girl was dangling in her car seat on the opposite side of the vehicle with her foot against the pavement through the broken passenger-side window. White reached down and unhooked the car seat belt, grabbed the girl, then lifted her out of the vehicle. He carried her to safety and handed her to her mother. Firefighters arrived several minutes later to find the vehicle engulfed in flames. Soon an explosion occurred and the flames intensified. An ambulance took the girl and her mother to the hospital where they were treated for minor cuts to their faces. White was not injured.

Steven Jacob Shannon

Fifteen people were in a Houston barroom on Nov. 25, 2022, when a disgruntled, 30-year-old male customer re-entered with a semi-automatic pistol. From a stairwell at its entrance, the assailant fired several rounds into the ceiling before lowering the gun and firing a single shot in the direction of the bar, where most of the customers were gathered. Houston property manager Steven Jacob Shannon, 39, stood at an auxiliary bar across the room from the main bar where his wife and friends stood. Shannon dropped to his hands and knees at the sound of the gunshots before crouching and moving toward the assailant along his blind side as others scattered for cover. He then leaped head-first over a set of stadium-style seats and a railing bordering the stairwell as he attempted to tackle the assailant. Shannon managed to disarm the assailant and then drove him through an open doorway. Once the two were outside, Shannon continued to march the assailant backward until the duo toppled over a city bikeshare station. With the man on the ground, Shannon wrestled with the assailant and eventually secured him in a jiu-jitsu chokehold until police arrived. The assailant was arrested and no one in the barroom was injured. Shannon suffered a concussion and bruising as a result of his actions to save everyone in the bar. He recovered.

Devin John Moore

About an hour before dawn on Feb. 20, 2024, a vehicle left a Waldron, Indiana, highway, and crashed into a tree. A fire soon broke out with a 46-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman still inside. Off-duty police officer Devin John Moore, 38, of Greensburg, Indiana, was driving nearby when he saw the accident and pulled onto the shoulder to report it. Flames intermittently flared on the car’s front end, rising as high as 3 feet, and there was a small fire beneath the area of the front seats. Moore jogged to the opened front, passenger door as the man and woman called for help. Dark-grey smoke filled the interior as Moore popped a side airbag with a knife. He leaned inside and cut the man’s seat belt to grab him by the arm. Moore escorted the man out of the car, and he stood, hunched over near the car. Moore ran around to the driver’s side where he unsuccessfully attempted to open the driver’s door and break out the window. He then returned to the passenger side as smoke flowed out through the open door and flames again flared at the hood. Fire burned on the floorboard near the woman as Moore opened the rear, passenger door and released a large plume of smoke. Moore moved inside and was soon enveloped in smoke. He immediately retreated and returned to the front, passenger door to lean inside. He removed the woman’s seat belt, grasped her, and pulled her across the center console, out of the car, and to the ground. The woman was unable to walk on her own, so Moore dragged her to the vehicle’s rear and the fire shortly accelerated. The flames soon engulfed the vehicle as Moore pulled the woman farther away. Moore then guided the man away when he suddenly collapsed. Despite efforts by Moore and first-responders, the man could not be revived and died at the scene. The woman was treated at a hospital for her injuries, including burns. Moore inhaled smoke and was treated for a persistent cough six days after the rescue. He then recovered.

Justin Scott Slater

At 2 a.m. July 31, 2024, a 34-year-old woman struggled and called for help after she jumped off a drawbridge into the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. Justin Scott Slater, a 38-year-old contractor from Toledo, was fishing with his father on a dock near the bridge when they heard a splash in the darkness. Slater’s father called 911 while he called to the woman and told her to swim toward his voice. As police arrived, Slater removed his shirt and shoes to jump into the water despite being warned by an officer. Slater dived in and swam about 195 feet to reach the woman, who had gone limp with her mouth and hands barely above the water. The rest of her body was submerged when Slater managed to grab her and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He then wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her with a bear hug until she coughed. Slater then placed one arm around her chest and wrapped his legs around her waist. Using his free arm, Slater swam with the woman to the dock where police secured her with a rope and the fire department’s dive team pulled her out. The woman was taken to a hospital. Slater was uninjured.

Joseph Hugh West, deceased

A young girl struggled to swim in at least 6 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean near Kure Beach, North Carolina, on July 1, 2023. She was amid a rip current just off a sandbar about 150 feet from shore. Joseph Hugh West, a 58-year-old retiree of Sanford, North Carolina, was on the beach nearby with several friends and family when he saw the girl and two others struggling to swim. West told a male friend to retrieve a life ring from a nearby aid station while he and two female friends entered the water. The conditions worsened farther from shore, and one of the women was forced to exit the water. West and the other woman continued to swim toward the struggling swimmers along with the male friend who had the life ring. The trio eventually reached the distressed swimmers. West swam to the girl while the man and woman assisted the other two swimmers. West reached the girl and requested the life ring, which was thrown to him by one of the friends and he successfully delivered the ring to the girl and another man who had swum out to her separately. Eyewitnesses on the beach indicated that West was then pulled farther from shore and out of sight by the rip current. The male friend managed to swim one of the people in danger to shore just as emergency personnel responded and assisted the remaining swimmers to safety, including the girl. West was located unconscious minutes later by emergency personnel. He had drowned.

Jared Moore

In a remote area near Killaloe, Ontario, on Feb. 24, 2024, Janice and Marvin Junop were riding snowmobiles across Round Lake when Janice, 55, attempted to cross an area of open water and her snowmobile sank 38 feet to the bottom. Having made it across the opening first, Marvin, 57, turned around to go back to help her. Off-duty police officer, Jared Moore, 25, of Pembroke, Ontario, was with his mother walking on a solid part of the lake ice about a half-mile away when they saw Janice’s vehicle plunge into the water. His mother ran to the family cottage on the shore to find a rope, while Moore sprinted toward the open water. Moore and Marvin shouted to Janice to swim to the edge of the ice. While standing on ice no more than 3 inches thick, they tossed a rope retrieved from Marvin’s snowmobile. Janice was too cold to grab the rope. Marvin then jumped into the open water, swam to Janice, and pushed her toward the edge. While Marvin pushed Janice from behind, Moore grabbed her arms and pulled her part of the way out, then grabbed her legs to pull her the rest of the way out. Moore then returned to the edge of the ice and pulled out Marvin. Janice was treated at a hospital and suffered from hypothermia, but she recovered. Marvin and Moore were not injured during the incident.

Lynn William Segebart

Enrique F. Velasquez, 21, was pumping fuel at a Palm Springs, Florida, gas station on Jan. 1, 2024, when a 43-year-old man armed with a sheetrock jab saw approached him from behind and said, “I’m going to kill you.” The man then began to stab Velasquez repeatedly with the 6-inch serrated blade. Velasquez tried to retreat, but fell backward to the ground. Now on top of Velasquez, the assailant continued his assault. Lynn William Segebart, a 61-year-old merchandiser from Lantana, Florida, was inside the gas station’s convenience store when he heard a loud scream and saw the assailant stabbing Velasquez. Segebart immediately ran to them and positioned himself on the assailant’s back, grasped the assailant’s hands, and told him to let go of the weapon. He extended both of the assailant’s hands to the ground to prevent him from further harming Velasquez. The assailant was heavier than Segebart and would not release the weapon. He bit Segebart’s arm. Segebart responded by headbutting the assailant three times and dazed him. The assailant loosened his grip and Segebart pulled the jab saw from the hands of the assailant before throwing it 10 feet away. Segebart and another man who responded pulled the assailant from Velasquez. The man who helped held the now-disarmed assailant down to the pavement until police arrived and took him into custody. Velasquez was taken to the hospital for treatment of several stab wounds. Segebart suffered a cut and bite wound and was treated at the scene. He recovered.

Charles J. Sergel

Five-year-old Anna Barone was trapped by smoke and flames inside a first-floor bathroom of a barn her father used as a workshop near her home in South Wales, New York, on April 17, 2024. Welder Charles J. Sergel, 51, of Java Village, New York, was driving past the Barone home with his 10-year-old son when he noticed smoke coming from the workshop. He pulled over on the side of the road and ran 300 feet up the driveway. Anna’s 16-year-old sister was outside the workshop and told Sergel that Anna was still inside. Sergel entered through a garage door and immediately encountered heavy smoke that extended from the ceiling to his knees. He pulled his sweatshirt over his mouth and walked slightly bent over as he called out for Anna. Sergel initially heard no response until he eventually heard Anna whimpering and turned toward the sound. Sergel ran through a flaming door frame into the bathroom and found Anna sitting in a water-filled utility sink with flames burning on the ceiling above. Anna had climbed into the sink and turned on the water for refuge. Sergel picked up Anna and, carrying her, ran back through the bathroom doorway, through a maze of objects, and exited the workshop the same way he entered. Anna was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, where she was treated for smoke inhalation and burns. She was released after two days and has since recovered. Sergel was also treated for smoke inhalation at a hospital and was released the same day;  he recovered.

Gary J. Lawson and Cody M. McCready

After 4 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2024, a 38-year-old woman under the influence of drugs and alcohol struggled to swim in the cold, fast-moving water of the Russian River near Guerneville, California. The rain-swollen river was estimated to be at least 10 feet deep and surged faster than normal. On-duty police officer Gary J. Lawson, 48, of Santa Rosa, California, responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call at a nearby sheriff’s office. He ran down to the water’s edge where he spotted the woman in the water. Lawson removed his ballistic vest, boots, duty belt, and overshirt before donning an unbuckled life vest. Lawson entered the water and swam about 75 feet to the woman, who resisted his help, and submerged Lawson multiple times as they continued floating about 1,000 feet downriver. He managed to grasp the woman by the shirt, to control her as she continued to resist, and swam with her about 50 feet toward a partially submerged island closer to the opposite bank. Lawson maneuvered both himself and the woman to a thicket of exposed tree branches along the island’s submerged riverbank. He reached out, grasped a branch, and stopped their momentum. Meanwhile, sheriff’s deputy Cody M. McCready, 34, of Santa Rosa, arrived on the near riverbank and ran along it until he saw Lawson and the woman.  After removing his own equipment, he entered a shallow but fast-moving channel between the island and the riverbank without a life vest. McCready waded into the water until he encountered a steep drop off and swam the rest of the way. Once he reached Lawson and the woman, McCready positioned his foot on a branch and helped to restrain the woman as she continued to frantically scratch and claw with her hands at both men. Within minutes, firefighters arrived in a rescue boat and removed the woman from the water. They transported her to a nearby beach where she was arrested. The firefighters then helped Lawson and McCready where both men were taken to emergency personnel on land. McCready was cold and tired, but was otherwise unharmed. Lawson, who had spent 25 minutes in the water, was shivering uncontrollably. He also sustained some scratches from the woman struggling, but he soon recovered.