Carnegie medals honor 20 who risked their lives

Carnegie medals honor 20 who risked their lives

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Two men who helped save six people from drowning in New York during Superstorm Sandy are among the 20 honored with medals for heroism by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

The awards announced today include recognition for Michael T. McDonnell and Dylan Patrick Smith, who worked together to save people in Rockaway Beach, N.Y., during the October 2012 storm.

As their neighborhood flooded with more than five feet of water, the 51-year-old McDonnell and 22-year-old Smith created a rescue line to help people, and Smith used his surfboard to paddle to those in distress.

Other medal winners were from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Texas.

More than $35 million has been awarded to 9,653 Carnegie Heroes since the fund’s inception in 1904.