Carnegie Medal Recipients

Since 1904, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awards the Carnegie Medal for civilian heroism.  To date, 9,477 civilians who have taken extraordinary risk to save family members, neighbors, friends, and strangers have been awarded the medal in the last 107 years.

These are ordinary citizens or off-duty officers who save people from burning cars, burning buildings, drowning, assaults, school shootings, animal attacks, and other misfortunes.  Many of the rescuers died or suffered significant injuries to help their fellow human beings.  Here are some examples.

Gregory Bryant attempted to rescue Sandra J. Bundy from burning, Chimacum, Washington, May 21, 2008. Bundy, 74, was inside her two-story house after fire broke out on the first floor, in the living room. Flames spread almost to engulf the structure. Traveling nearby, Bryant, 20, delivery driver, saw smoke and, reporting the fire, responded to the scene. He ran to the front door of the house, where he saw Bundy lying on the floor just inside. Bryant crouched down and entered the house, despite flames that were consuming it and blistering heat. He grasped Bundy by the forearms and dragged her out of the house and away from it. Others arrived and helped to move her farther from the house, the walls and roof of which were collapsing. Badly burned, Bundy died at the scene. Bryant was hospitalized a week for treatment of burns, up to third-degree, to his hands, wrists, forearms, face, and knee. Requiring skin grafting, he missed several months’ work.  (Source.)

Diane D. Cox rescued Sandra Ruiz from assault, Newbury Park, California, August 12, 2007. At night, Ruiz, 33, was attacked by a man armed with a meat cleaver in the courtyard of her apartment complex. Cox, 52, administrative assistant, who also lived in the complex, was alerted to the attack. She ran to the scene, where she saw the assailant atop Ruiz, striking her. Shouting at him to stop, Cox jumped on the assailant, knocking him off Ruiz and to the ground. Although the assailant struck Cox on the face with the cleaver, inflicting a significant injury, she got on top of him and held down his weapon hand. Another resident of the complex arrived, disarmed the assailant, and helped Cox detain him for police, who responded shortly and arrested him.  Ruiz required extensive hospitalization for treatment of severe injuries. Cox was also taken to the hospital, for treatment of blunt trauma to the side of her face, including a fracture and a laceration that required suturing.  (Source.)

Donald C. Wilkinson, Jr., died after helping to save a boy from drowning, Aransas Pass, Texas, February 15, 2006. A 5-year-old boy fell from the end of a wooden pier that extended 60 feet into Conn Brown Harbor off the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing nearby from the pier, Wilkinson, 67, retired power plant employee, climbed over the pier railing and dropped six feet into the 60-degree water, which was about eight feet deep. He grasped the boy, then held to one of the pier’s supports while the boy clung to him. A man in a boat responded shortly and took the boy aboard. Unable to take Wilkinson aboard, the man let the boat drift toward shore with Wilkinson holding to it. When they reached shallow water, the boy waded ashore and the boater assisted Wilkinson to a seated position. Wilkinson lost consciousness. He was removed from the water by paramedics, then was hospitalized. He died early the next day of complications of near drowning. (Source.)

John A. Klang died after saving an indeterminate number of persons from assault, Cazenovia, Wisconsin, September 29, 2006. A 15-year-old boy entered the school he attended, armed with a loaded shotgun and handgun. A school employee removed the shotgun from him, after which the boy produced the handgun and pointed it at two teachers, both of whom sought safety. Meanwhile, Klang, 49, the school’s principal and district administrator, responded and confronted the boy in a hallway. Klang and the boy then struggled, during which time the boy fired the gun repeatedly, striking Klang. Although he was mortally wounded, Klang
disarmed the assailant, casting the gun through the hall, and detained him. A teacher and two students left a nearby classroom and secured the assailant until police arrived shortly and arrested him. Klang died in the hospital several hours later of his gunshot wounds.  (Source.)

If you ever get jaded and think that there are no heroes anymore, take some time to read these stories.  Heroes walk among us.  Still.

The stories from Sept 1998 to the present are available online here.