Charleston Man who Died at Sutton Lake as He Saved His Son One of 18 Honored by Carnegie Hero Fund

The Carnegie Hero Fund recently recognized 18 individuals, including a deceased man from Charleston, KeVaughn Montgomery.

All the Americans recognized by the Fun risked serious injury or death, or were killed, saving or attempting to save others in acts of extraordinary heroism. This is the Hero Fund’s third award announcement for 2025. Each individual will receive the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism.

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 10,528 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 121 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $45 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

Montgomery was honored after an 8-year-old boy slid down a recreational slide on a double-decker pontoon boat into Sutton Lake on July 15, 2024. After entering the water, at a point that was 14 feet deep, he began to panic and struggled to stay afloat. He was wearing a life jacket, but one of the hooks on it unlatched and the jacket started to loosen from his body, but it did not completely come off.

The boy’s father was 25-year-old construction worker KeVaughn Montgomery. He saw his son panic in the water and jumped from the boat. He landed in the water about 10 feet away from the boy and swam to him to grasp him under his arms. Montgomery held him above the water’s surface as the boy panicked, which caused Montgomery to repeatedly submerge. He continued to hold the boy above the surface and eventually pushed the boy a few feet toward the boat.

Montgomery then submerged and did not resurface. Other adults in the party had entered the water after Montgomery and brought the boy back onto the boat to safety. The boy was not injured. Poor visibility made it difficult to search for Montgomery and there was no cell service at the scene. Members of the party went to a nearby marina to call 911 and a search was initiated for Montgomery. He was not found until divers recovered his body the following day. He had drowned.

You can read about the additional 17 heroes by clicking HERE. 

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