EDISTO BEACH, S.C. — A Cincinnati man is being celebrated after he helped two teenage girls caught in a rip current in South Carolina.
Financial adviser Michael Louis Lesan, 41, is one of 17 people honored with a Carnegie Medal, given to men and women who show extraordinary acts of heroism — even risking death — to save others.
The Carnegie Hero Fund said Lesan was with his family at Edisto Beach, South Carolina when two teenage girls got caught in a rip current and struggled to swim. The fund said wind gusts were up to 28 miles per hour, with six-foot waves and choppy water.
Lesan, the fund said, entered the ocean and swam to the girls, grabbing them and bringing them to the shore. Lesan and the girls were submerged underwater at least twice, the fund said.
The three were eventually able to make it to shore, with both girls recovering.
For his actions, Lesan is receiving the continent's highest honor for civilian heroism. Along with the medal, he receives a financial grant.
Some of the other individuals recognized include a man who pulled a grizzly bear off his friend and was then attacked himself as well as a man who rammed his tractor into a burning home to help save a woman who was unconscious inside.
The Carnegie Hero Fund was started by Andrew Carnegie, the man who led the expansion of the country's steel industry. Since its creation, the fund has given away $45 million in grants, scholarships and even death benefits.
