The Carnegie Hero Fund delivered the Carnegie Medal to Jason Milks of Astoria. Milks came to the aid of a 35-year-old woman who was swimming in the 50-degree Pacific Ocean off of Seaside with a kickboard when she was pulled away from shore and shouted for help.

Clam digging nearby, Jason R. Milks, 40, responded. He ran 300 feet down the beach, removed his chest-high waders and other outer clothing, grabbed another kickboard and entered the water. Milks swam 450 feet to the woman, and instructed her to balance her chest on her kickboard and grab his ankles. Milks released his kickboard, and it floated away. He swam toward shore towing the woman, but every time a wave crashed over them, he stood upright in the water and held onto the woman so they would not get separated, before he began swimming again. The woman was taken to the hospital and treated for hypothermia; she recovered. Milks was cold and nearly exhausted.

Milks is one of 16 civilians who risked their lives to save others to receive the Carnegie Medal.

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 10,307 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 118 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, almost $44 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.