The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has announced the final list of winners of Carnegie Hero medals for 2015.
The fund was established in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie who wrote that “A medal shall be given to the hero, or widow, or next of kin, which shall recite the heroic deed it commemorates, that descendants may know and be proud of their descent. The medal shall be given for the heroic act, even if the doer be uninjured, and also a sum of money, should the Commission deem such gift desirable.”
In 2015, 84 awards were made, bringing the total number of awards since 1904 to 9,821. Carnegie heros receive a medal and some financial award, depending on the circumstances.
The awards announced Thursday go to:
Cesar Andy Garcia, 18 of Ronkonkoma, New York, and Michael Thomas Frawley, 18, of Hamburg, New York, both saved a 9-year-old boy from drowning in Scranton, Pennsylvania on Nov. 23, 2014. The boy’s father drowned attempting to help the child.
Dennis C. Hunke II, 51, of Plainfield, Illinois, who died trying to rescue an 84-year-old woman from an out-of-control vehicle.
Helen Goulet 72, of Courtenay, British Columbia, saved an 89-year-old woman from a house fire.
The Olson family, of Jefferson, South Dakota, helped a woman being threatened by her husband with a gun on May 10, 2014. Gary Olson, 64, his wife Mary Olson, 54, Shelby Olson, 20, stopped in a parking lot and let the woman into their car. The man shot at them, injuring Shelby Olson.
Peter Todd Radke, 43, of Medina, Ohio, was killed May 31, 2014 trying to save a woman from drowning after she was struck by a wave on Lake Erie.
Wayne L. Hoffman, 66, of Spring Green, Wisconsin, died on Dec. 23, 2014 trying to save a man struggling in the waters of Lake Superior in Minnesota.
Michael Campanella, 40, of Clifton Park, New York and Adam Matthew Myers, 21,of Ballston Spa, New York, worked together to save a man trapped in burning station wagon on August 8, 2014 in Clifton Park.
Kevin Michael O’Connor, 40, of Ottawa, Illinois, saved a man from drowning while kayaking in the Fox River in Geneva, Illinois on April 19, 2014.
Laurence T. Norton III, 47, of New Orleans, rescued a woman being stabbed by a man with a large kitchen knife on Oct. 27, 2014 in the city. Norton grabbed the woman away from the man in a parking lot, tussled with the man and helped her into his dentist’s office, administering first aid.
Clifford W. J. Peterson, 40, a police constable from Ajax, Ontario, saved a man from falling off an icy bridge in Toronto on Dec. 8, 2013.
Fraser A. Potts, 28, of Limoges, Ontario, saved a woman from drowning in a suicide attempt in Fairford, Manitoba on May 10, 2013.
Jon Christopher Meis, 22, of Renton, Washington, saved an indeterminate number of people during a campus shooting in Seattle on June 5, 2014. He pepper-sprayed and tackled a gunman as he paused to reload his shotgun at a building at Seattle Pacific University.
Steven A. Martin, 39, of Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania, rescued a woman trapped in a burning car on Sept. 6, 2014 in Patton, Pennsylvania.
Neil C. Burkhardt, 32, of Portland, Oregon, tackled a woman who was firing a gun at a man in an office building on Feb. 4, 2014. He wrested the gun from the woman and held her at gunpoint until security arrived. The man was shot but recovered.
Matthew L. Tranel, 39, of Maquoketa, Iowa, and Cory Alan Simonson, 29, of Maquoketa, Iowa, saved a 48-year old man whose wheelchair malfunctioned during a house fire.
Joshua J. Gardner, 36, of Calgary, Alberta, saved a man whose SUV left the roadway and landed a golf course pond on July 5, 2014.
Clifford A. Wright, 72, of Sarasota, Florida, saved two people from drowning when their car wound up in a pond after an accident and started to sink on Jan. 13, 2015.
Stuart Chaffin, 45, of St. Cloud, Florida, saved an unresponsive driver whose car caught fire after an accident on Dec. 22, 2014 in Orlando.
Boyce Coleman, 43, of Yonkers, New York, drowned on Sept. 7, 2014, trying to save a 5-year-old boy who floated away from the banks of the Hudson River during a community event. Jennifer Fanelli, 23, of Elmsford New York, took the boy from Coleman and swam back to shore.
William J. Driscoll, 34, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, stopped a runaway vehicle with an unresponsive driver on a highway by ramming it with his own on Sept. 15, 2014.
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