Carnegie Heroes: 2 Kids Who Died Saving Other Kids

Two children who died saving the lives of even younger children are among 21 people being honored with Carnegie medals for heroism. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced the winners Tuesday, the AP reports. Natalie Renee Martin, 11, of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., led her 9-year-old sister, Jenna, to safety when their house burned on Jan. 26. Natalie went back into the house attempting to rescue two other siblings, 10-year-old Benjamin Martin and 7-year-old Carter Maki, but all three were trapped and died of complications from smoke inhalation. Kiera Vera Larsen, 10, was killed Feb. 22 when she pushed 2-year-old Emmah Gusich out of the way when a parked vehicle began rolling down a sloped driveway toward the toddler in El Cajon, Calif. Kiera was struck and killed by the vehicle.

The commission, named for late steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, investigates stories of heroism and awards medals and cash. It has given away $38.7 million to 9,914 awardees or their families since 1904. Other winners announced Tuesday include Ivan R. Romero Jr., 39, who saved a woman from a burning car hit by a tanker truck in West Sacramento, Calif., in July 2015; Calvin Bradley Stein, 51, who saved a 3-year-old girl from being trampled by runaway ponies at a fairground in Tweed, Ontario, in July this year; and Ryan R. Rollinger, 39, of Harrisburg, SD, an assistant principal who saved his principal from further harm after the principal was shot and wounded by a 16-year-old student in September 2015. Click for a full list. (More Carnegie Hero Medals stories.)