New Orleans Man 1 Of 24 Being Honored As Carnegie Hero

WASHINGTON (AP) – In its fourth and final announcement of 2015, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today awarded 24 Carnegie Medals in recognition of civilian heroism throughout the United States and Canada. The medal is given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Four of the awardees died in the performance of their heroic acts.

         The heroes announced today bring to 84 the number of awards made to date in 2015 and to 9,821 the total number since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 111 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $37.7 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

         The awardees are:

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— 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.

 

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— 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.

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— 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.

 

— 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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