A Medina father of four who died last year while trying to save a 16-year-old girl from drowning in Lake Erie is among 24 people being honored with medals and cash from the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Heroes Fund Commission.
Peter Radke, 43, a social media specialist, was killed May 31, 2014, while trying to aid a swimmer who had drifted from a wading area amid strong waves at Huntington Beach in Bay Village.
He swam out in the choppy, 61-degree waters to help Angel Rodgers and began to guide her back to shore, but he was carried off by a current during her successful rescue, according to the fund’s news release. Authorities found Radke’s body along the shore hours later.
The commission’s new honorees, formally announced Thursday, include three other individuals who died trying to save others:
• Dennis Hunke, 51, of Plainfield, Ill., died trying to rescue an 84-year-old woman from an out-of-control vehicle Oct. 8, 2014.
• Wayne Hoffman, 66, of Spring Green, Wis., died Dec. 23, 2014, trying to save a man struggling in the waters of Lake Superior in Minnesota.
• Boyce Coleman of Yonkers, N.Y., drowned 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.
The Carnegie Hero awards are named for Pittsburgh steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism during a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer who died trying to rescue others.
The commission has given away $37.7 million to 9,821 awardees or their families since 1904.