Bravery in the line of life

Brett Carlson lived a hero’s life, crafting unorthodox, effective teaching methods to inspire high school students to learn Spanish.

Jessica Pierce lived life as a hero too, directing her swimming talents into training, qualifying, and volunteering as a lifeguard.

In the face of tragedy, the two everyday heroes sacrificed their lives with uncommon heroism. The Kiwanis International Foundation Board recently recognized the pair’s sacrifice by awarding them, as well as six other individuals, the Robert P. Connelly Medal for Heroism.

Carlson, a teacher at Labette County High School in Altamont, Kansas, and Pierce, a LCHS student, were part of a language-immersion trip to Costa Rica. While a group of students were swimming on the Palo Seco Beach near Parrita, the surf turned rough and riptides quickly tired the swimmers as they tried to reach shore.

Carlson assisted two students to shore, and though warned by another chaperone that he could not save others, he returned for a third, saying, “They are my kids. I’ve got to try.” He died in his third attempted rescue.

Though fully dressed and in her hotel room, Pierce responded to the commotion on the beach. She told her friends she was a lifeguard and it was her job to do something. While she and another student tried to pull a struggling victim to shore, a wave separated them. Pierce and the victim both died.

The Kiwanis Club of Parsons, Kansas, nominated Carlson and Pierce for the Connelly Medal. Other recent Connelly Medal for Heroism recipients are:

• At 4 a.m., Matthew Emmerling and Kevin Mahoney discovered smoke on the back porch of a historic home in State College, Pennsylvania. The two men repeatedly entered the burning building and saved 10 lives. The Kiwanis Club of State College nominated Emmerling and Mahoney for the Connelly medal.

• After two off-duty lifeguards failed to rescue a drowning man in rough seas near Pensacola Beach, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, Douglas Harrell swam out to the submerged victim. Through cold waters and a strong undertow, Harrell, an Eagle Scout and himself an off-duty lifeguard, brought the man back to shore. The Kiwanis Club of Bainbridge, Georgia, nominated Harrell for the Kiwanis International Foundation medal. Harrell is a resident of Whigham, Georgia.

• Steve Sliwa was riding his bicycle through a Daytona Beach, Florida, subdivision when he witnessed a car crashing into a high voltage transformer. Sliwa ran to the car, shouted instructions to the 88-year-old driver to unlock the door, and lifted her from the seat. As they walked away, the car exploded. Sliwa’s Connelly nomination came from the Kiwanis Club of Daytona Beach.

• Jack Logan and Bert Alexander, both of Conway, Georgia, died to save two other lives in a boating accident on Lake Nicaragua this past April. The Kiwanis Club of Conway submitted their Connelly Medal nomination. For more about their heroic sacrifice, read the February 2007 issue of KIWANIS magazine.