Two Glendale Police Department officers have been awarded the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.

Officers Robert Wilson and Andrew Reischl were recently honored by the Carnegie Hero Fund for their actions on April 10, 2022, when they entered the dangerously cold Milwaukee River to rescue an unresponsive driver, 46, of an SUV that had entered the river and submerged in water 9 feet deep.

WRN first reported the story here.

The Carnegie Hero Fund

The Carnegie Hero Fund awards the Carnegie Medal to individuals in the United States and Canada who risk death or serious physical injury to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

According to the Carnegie Hero Fund website, “Two Glendale (Wisconsin) police officers entered the dangerously cold Milwaukee River on April 10, 2022, to rescue an unresponsive driver, 46, of an SUV that had entered the river and submerged in water 9 feet deep. Officer Robert M. Wilson, Jr., 32, arrived at the scene first and swam about 100 feet to the SUV, peering through its sunroof, but he could not see anyone inside. He swam back to the bank, and when Officer Andrew Reischl, 34, arrived with a window-breaking tool, and they swam to the SUV again. Seeing that the driver’s window was partially down, Reischl kicked at it until it lowered completely. Holding to the car’s roof cargo bar, Reischl reached inside the car and cut the man’s seat belt. Submerging, Reischl pulled on the man until he was through the window. Wilson and Reischl then swam the man back to the bank, where other officers helped them out of the water. The man was taken to the hospital and survived. Wilson and Reischl were also checked out at a hospital and recovered.”