Fletcher awarded heroism medal

Published 6:30 am Friday, July 1, 2016

A Huntsville man who died last July trying to save a friend whose kayak flipped in an Athens pond has been posthumously awarded the nation’s highest civilian award for bravery.

Calindo Fletcher Jr. was just 20-years-old when he dove into Summit Lake to help Buddy Wayne Johnson, 37, after Johnson’s kayak flipped three times on July 4. Fletcher injured himself attempting to rescue Johnson and was pulled unresponsive from the water by first responders and later flown to Vanderbilt Hospital. Johnson was pronounced dead later that day at Athens-Limestone Hospital and Fletcher died July 6 in Nashville.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced Thursday that Fletcher is among 23 others honored this summer with the Carnegie medal for heroism for putting his own life at risk trying to save Johnson.

The Carnegie Hero medals are named for Pittsburgh steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism during a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer who died trying to rescue others.

The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission investigates stories of heroism and awards medals and cash several times a year. It has given away $38.2 million to 9,868 awardees or their families since 1904.

To be eligible for a medal, the person must be a civilian who voluntarily risks their life to “an extraordinary degree” while saving or attempting to save the life of another person.