Those who were honored with the Carnegie Medal for Heroism risked serious injury and even death while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
CONROE, Texas — The Carnegie Medal for Heroism is North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism, and a Conroe man is one of only 18 to earn that honor this time around.
Eighteen people, including two men honored posthumously, are being recognized for bravery by the Carnegie Hero Fund for risking their lives to stop violent attacks and save others across the U.S. and Canada. Among the honorees are men who confronted a gunman during the Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley shooting and others who helped subdue a knife-wielding attacker targeting author Salman Rushdie in New York.
Conroe man honored
It was May 28, 2024, when Robert E. Chance risked his life to save another civilian.
Chance, a 28-year-old contractor from Conroe, was driving through the Spring area that day with his girlfriend, Renee Young, and her daughter.
As he drove over a ditch, he spotted 53-year-old Jeffrey Jones, whose vehicle was stuck in high water. Jones later said he had tried to exit a parking lot in the blinding rain and drove into a drainage channel. His vehicle was pulled along the channel by the fast-moving water before it came to rest on top of a submerged pipe.
In a video captured by Young and her daughter, Chance surveyed the waterlogged truck before he rushed back to his truck and grabbed a hammer. The video continued and showed Chance using the hammer to break the front windshield.
“When I saw him in there, I immediately went to my toolbox,” Chance said. “He was waving so we could see him, and you could see his boots, at least that’s what it looked like to me, was his boots hitting the windshield.”
In an interview with KHOU 11 News, Chance said he ended up breaking the rear passenger window and pulling Jones out that way. They climbed out of the ditch with a ladder provided by another good Samaritan.
“We were in the right place at the right time. He did what his body said he should do, and that man got to go home,” Young said.
What is the Carnegie Hero Fund?
The Pittsburgh-based Hero Fund, founded in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie, has awarded 10,528 medals, distributing more than $45 million in aid to those recognized and their families during its 121-year history.
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