SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Two San Diego area men have been recognized with North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism for swimming into bloodied water to save their teammate during a shark attack.
Kevin Barrett, 51, a financial advisor from San Diego, and Cameron Whiting, 31, a real estate company vice president from Encinitas, both received a Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism, for saving their teammate from a shark attack while they were swimming in the Pacific Ocean in Del Mar over the summer, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced .
Boy abducted from California at age 6 found alive more than 70 years later A Carnegie Medal is given to men and women in the U.S. and Canada who have risked serious injury or death to save the lives of others.
Barrett and Whiting are among 18 people who were recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund in September 2024, including a veteran who helped take down the gunman who opened fire in a Colorado Springs nightclub in 2022, a mother and brother who died in separate incidents attempting to save family members, a teen who saved an 18-year-old from drowning in Hawaii, another teen who saved a 9-month-old baby from being electrocuted in Oregon, and a teen who saved a woman in her 30s from drowning in Alabama.
On June 2, 2024, Caleb Adams, 46, was swimming in the open water about 300 feet offshore in the ocean off the coast of Del Mar in northern San Diego County with teammates Kevin Barrett and Cameron Whiting, along with about a dozen other swimmers who meet regularly to train in the area, when Adams was attacked by a 9 foot, 550 pound juvenile great white shark.
According to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission’s award announcement, Adams was able to fight off the shark by punching it twice, but was injured on his hand during the process. The shark also caused serious injuries to Adams’ chest, torso area and right thigh.
Shark attack prompts beach closure in Del Mar Barrett and Whiting heard Adams and another person scream for help and swam toward them. Not thinking twice about the blood in the water, Barrett pulled Adams on top of his chest and began to backstroke towards the shore.
That’s when Whiting and a nearby surfer arrived who let them use his surf board, while Whiting laid on top of Adams and brought him to shore with Barrett swimming alongside them to steady Adams.
Once they were back at the beach they were able to help Adams into the back of a lifeguard truck and he was taken to a hospital in a matter of minutes.
Adams was hospitalized for three days and has since made a recovery.
Del Mar beaches reopen after shark attack Other California award recipients in this latest round include Eddie Gerardo Cervantes Lora of Tracy, California, and Stanley Becerra III, of Lathrop, California. Cervantes died to save a mother and her daughter from a fast moving river after they wrecked their car. Becerra witnessed Cervantes trying to save them and jumped in to help, and was able to save the daughter and the mother, but the mother later died at the hospital after being submerged in the water.
With this latest announcement, the Carnegie Medal has now been awarded to 10,458 people since the inception of the Pittsburgh-based Fund in 1904.
This is the Hero Fund’s third award recipient group for 2024. Award recipients or their survivors receive a financial grant.
To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, you can complete an online nomination form at carnegiehero.org or write to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
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