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PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WBTW) — A heroic Georgia man who tragically lost his life while saving six individuals from a rip current at Pawleys Island is being recognized with a distinguished national accolade.
Anderson “Chase” Childers has been posthumously awarded the esteemed Carnegie Medal for Heroism. He is among 18 recipients honored with this prestigious recognition, which represents the highest civilian accolade for heroism in North America.
Childers, a devoted husband and father of three, was on vacation at Pawleys Island last July when he responded to cries for help from a group caught in the treacherous current.
“His instincts as a first responder took over, and he immediately rushed into the water to assist,” recounted Michael Fanning, the Chief of Police at Pawleys Island.
In the wake of Childers’ passing, a GoFundMe initiative launched a week later garnered nearly $250,000. His untimely death has spurred family members to advocate for enhanced water safety training and educational programs.
“As a devoted husband and father, he displayed extraordinary courage and selflessness. In a heroic act, he saved a family of five in a moment of crisis in Pawleys Island on Sunday afternoon, putting their lives above his own,” the GoFundMe page says. “Tragically, after giving everything he had to save them, he was unable to stay above water as the rip tide swept him away, ultimately paying the highest sacrifice with his life in front of his three children and wife.”
The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this announcement, the Carnegie Medal has been awarded to 10,563 individuals since the inception of the Pittsburgh-based Fund in 1904. Each of the recipients or their survivors will receive a financial grant. Throughout the 122 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $46 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.