Amagansett's Katherine Osiecki Awarded Carnegie Hero Fund Medal

For her April 21 save of a woman who was drowning, Amagansett woman Katherine Lee Osiecki has been named a recipient of the Carnegie Medal.

Carnegie Hero Fund, based in Pittsburgh, gives out its award throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

On the night of April 21 in Amagansett, Osiecki heard a woman crying for help. The 57-year-old woman was treading water in Napeague Bay, about 225 feet from shore. According to police, the woman had deliberately driven her husband’s Porsche into the bay while drunk.

Osiecki, a 21-year-old university student and lifeguard, and her boyfriend ran down to the beach with a flashlight and saw the woman bobbing in the water. Osiecki entered the 47-degree water and swam out to the woman. She positioned the woman on her back, wrapped her arm around her and swam her back to shore.

Each Carnegie Medal recipient is also awarded a financial grant, a tradition since Andrew Carnegie established the fund 109 years ago.