Louisville man who drowned trying to rescue woman from Ohio River wins Carnegie Hero medal

A Louisville man who drowned in January while he tried to save a woman who had jumped into the frigid Ohio River has been posthumously awarded a Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest award for bravery by civilians.

Adam Layman Thomas, 34, jumped over a railing to try to save the women from the swollen, 41-degree river but quickly went under, along with the woman, who has not been identified and whose body hasn’t been recovered.

Thomas’s body was found nearly three months later 100 miles downstream in southwest Indiana. The Warrick County Coroner’s office identified him in part by a tattoo on his back that read “Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat" — Latin for “fortune favors the bold.”

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The Carnegie Medal is given to those who risk extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. The fund was endowed by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and nearly $44 million has been given to 10,307 people since its inception in 1904.

Thomas was among 16 honorees announced this week.

The others included a retired NFL defensive end, Brandon Bair, who entered a burning semi-truck to save its driver, and a man who removed his prosthetic lower leg before entering 50-degree water to pull a man from a sinking SUV.

The medal winners or their families receive a financial award which in the past has been $5,000; the amount for this year’s winner was not disclosed.

Thomas, who owned an excavation business, was driving when he saw people congregating at the river’s edge and learned a woman who had walked naked through downtown and then jumped in.

He removed his outer clothing, climbed over the railing and entered the river. As he swam toward the woman, she continued downstream and he struggled, then disappeared.

Thomas was survived by a younger daughter, Ayla, as well his parents, Elizabeth "Betsy" and Ricky Thomas, and brothers Andrew and Griffin Thomas.

Police in Newburgh, Indiana, where his body was found, said: “The actions of Mr. Thomas were a true act of heroism and took great courage. Mr. Thomas placed himself in harm’s way in order to help another and ultimately sacrificed his life in doing so.”

Carnegie endowed the hero fund after the Harwick mine disaster In 1904 near Pittsburgh claimed 181 lives — including those of an engineer and a miner who went into the stricken mine in an attempt to rescue others.

“I do not expect to stimulate or create heroism by this fund knowing well that heroic action is impulsive.,” Mr. Carnegie wrote. “But I do believe that, if the hero is injured in his bold attempt to serve or save his fellows, he and those dependent upon him should not suffer pecuniarily.”

Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville man who drowned trying to rescue woman awarded hero medal