Two kids who died saving others honored

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Two children who died saving the lives of even younger children are among 21 people being honored with Carnegie medals for heroism.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, based in Pittsburgh, announced the winners Tuesday.

Natalie Renee Martin, 11, of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., led her 9-year-old sister, Jenna, to safety when their house burned Jan. 26. Natalie went back into the house attempting to rescue two other siblings, 10-year-old Benjamin Martin and 7-year-old Carter Maki, but all three were trapped and died later of complications from smoke inhalation.

Kiera Vera Larsen, 10, was killed Feb. 22 when she pushed 2-year-old Emmah Gusich out of the way when a parked vehicle began rolling down a sloped driveway toward the toddler in El Cajon, Calif. Kiera was struck and killed by the vehicle.

Others among those honored include:

Peter F. Pontzer, 51, of Fairfax, Va., and Duncan O.C. Harris, 21, of Buffalo Grove, Ill., saved a 13-year-old boy from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean at Emerald Isle, N.C., in July 2015.

Nathan Ryan Reynolds, 35, of Claremont, Calif., who saved a 75-year-old woman and 9-year-old girl from a car that crashed into a pond in Marina, Calif., in January 2015.

R. Wayne Trivette, 67, of Metamora, Ohio, and Timothy A. Holtz II, 35, of Sand Creek, Mich., who saved an unconscious woman from a burning vehicle after a crash in Jasper, Mich., in July 2015.