Carnegie Medals awarded to 18 in U.S., Canada for extraordinary acts of civilian heroism

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — In its fourth and final award announcement of 2012, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today named 18 individuals as recipients of the Carnegie Medal. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

The heroes announced today bring to 81 the number of awards made in 2012 and to 9,576 the total number since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission President Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 108 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $34.8 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

Four of the awardees died in the performance of their heroic acts, including Cynthia L. Riediger, 53, a geologist from Calgary, Ala. Riediger drowned in Lake Erie off Pelee Island, Ont., while helping to save a friend while on vacation with her family. The awardees are:

    Christopher M. Johnson          Bolingbrook, Ill.
    Carl Casey Loando               Honolulu, Hawaii
    Gary Yurkovic, Jr.              Carteret, N.J.
    Ione Fletcher Kleven            Castro Valley, Calif.
    Joshua W. Steed                 Abilene, Texas
    Thomas Joseph Delgado           Valley Center, Kan.
    Joseph C. Page                  Wichita, Kan.
    Jonathan Paul Jones, deceased   Lisbon, Iowa
    Kujtime Ajro                    Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Nathan James Marling            Cedar Rapids, Iowa
    Makeda S. Barkley               Lisbon, Iowa
    Ricky D. Clinton, deceased      Mountain Pine, Ark.
    Cynthia L. Riediger, deceased   Calgary, Alta.
    John M. Byrd                    Round O, S.C.
    Mark Samuel Dawson              Summerville, S.C.
    Kenneth J. Stephens, Sr.,
     deceased                       Dunnellon, Fla.
    Robert Eli Meyer                Kingston, Mass.
    Connor Farland Stotts           Oceanside, Calif.

Resumes of the acts can be found at http://carnegiehero.org/awardees_recent.php. Fuller information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at www.carnegiehero.org.

Contact: Douglas R. Chambers
Toll free: 1-800-447-8900

SOURCE Carnegie Hero Fund Commission