Arlington Heights Woman Who Died While Saving Drowning Boy Receives Carnegie Medal

Photo credit: Karen Wessel obituary

An Arlington Heights woman who died last summer while saving a boy from drowning at a lake in Wisconsin has been chosen to receive a Carnegie medal for extraordinary civilian heroism.

Karen Wessel was one of 22 recipients of the medal and among four who died.

Wessel is credited with saving an 8-year-old boy who began to struggle in the deep water near a submerged sand bar in Star Lake in Wisconsin on July 22, 2014, while he was trying to swim back to the bank. Wessel was at the lake with two other women and three children, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Wessel’s sister attempted to save the boy but a struggle ensued between the two. Wessel, an administrative assistant, swam out to them and grasped the boy, allowing her sister to swim back to safety. Wessel repeatedly pushed the boy up to keep him at the surface of the water until both went under the water.

A man responded in a pontoon boat, found the boy and was able to bring him to safety. He then found Wessel floating nearby and brought her onto the boat. He attempted to revive her. Paramedics responded and continued resucitation efforts.

She was taken to the hospital but could not be revived. The boy was hospitalized and has recovered.

“She gave her life. If it wasn’t for her, my grandson wouldn’t be here,” Chuck Altamore, the grandfather of the 9-boy Wessel saved from drowning, told the Chicago Tribune.

Wessel had a daughter, Elizabeth, and son, Michael, according to her obituary.

To view the full list of Carnegie medal recipients, visit carnegiehero.org.

• Follow Palatine Patch on Facebook
• Follow Arlington Heights Patch on Facebook