OCEAN CITY — The “humble hero” who leaped from the Route 90 bridge into the water below to save an infant last May has been recognized with the Carnegie Medal, the highest honor in North America for civilian heroism.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission on Monday announced Jonathan Bauer, vice president of information services at Atlantic General Hospital, will be one of 17 Americans to receive the Carnegie Medal. The honor is bestowed by Carnegie Hero Fund to those who enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
Bauer certainly fits the bill for his heroic actions following a multi-vehicle accident on the Route 90 bridge when he leaped from the span to rescue a two-year-old child who had been ejected in her car seat from one of the vehicles involved into the bay below.
Since famed philanthropist Andrew Carnegie founded the hero fund and the award in 1904, the organization has recognized over 10,000 honorees with the award. Commission Chair Mark Laskow said each of the awardees or their survivors in five cases, will also receive a financial grant. Since the fund was established in 1904, over $43 million has been given to recipients in the form of one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance.
The single event leading Carnegie to organize the fund was the Harwick mine disaster in Pennsylvania in 1904 which claimed 181 lives. The victims included an engineer and a miner who went back into the mine in a valiant attempt to rescue others. That tragedy and the sacrifices made by the selfless rescuers prompted Carnegie to take action to honor and help what he called the “heroes of civilization.”