Carnegie Hero Fund honors 17 for acts of bravery

The Carnegie Hero Fund has recognized 17 individuals for acts of extraordinary heroism, including  a 37-year-old truck driver who saved an injured 16-year-old girl from a burning charter bus following a multivehicle crash in Etna, Ohio.

All of those honored risked serious injury or death, or lost their lives, while saving or attempting to save others. This marks the Hero Fund’s fourth and final award announcement for 2025. Each recipient will receive the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism.

The Carnegie Medal is awarded throughout the United States and Canada to individuals who enter extreme danger to save or attempt to save the lives of others. With this announcement, the medal has been awarded to 10,545 individuals since the Pittsburgh-based fund was established in 1904. Each recipient or surviving family member will receive a financial grant. Over the past 121 years, more than $45 million has been distributed through one-time grants, scholarship assistance, death benefits and continuing aid.

One of this year’s honorees is Joshua Chieka, 37, of Piedmont, Ohio, whose actions during a Nov. 14, 2023, crash on an Etna highway saved the life of a teenage girl. A charter bus carrying 52 students and three faculty members to a school band event was struck by a tractor-trailer. Sixteen-year-old Brynn Goedel was standing at the time of impact and was thrown violently, sustaining serious injuries.

A fire broke out involving the tractor-trailer and a second vehicle and spread to the rear of the bus. While most passengers were able to escape, Goedel was left immobile, lying faceup in the aisle beneath debris. Chieka, who was driving nearby, stopped after seeing flames coming from the bus. Upon learning that students were still inside, he entered through the open door.

He climbed the steps and crouched, moving about 30 feet toward the back of the bus through dense smoke. Feeling his way through the darkness, he located Goedel and, while remaining crouched, dragged her toward the front of the bus. With help from chaperones, Chieka moved her to the side of the highway, where emergency personnel later transported her to a hospital.

Goedel suffered multiple pelvic fractures, rib fractures, a broken clavicle, a lacerated bladder, burns to her face and arm, and a concussion. After 43 days in the hospital and four surgeries, she recovered. Three other students on the bus died in the crash. Chieka inhaled smoke and suffered a minor burn to his right forearm. He was treated at a nearby hospital and recovered.