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East Naples heroes honored with Carnegie Medal
By
Tami Osborne, WINK News
Story Created:
Jul 1, 2009 at 9:50 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 1, 2009 at 9:50 PM EDT
EAST NAPLES, Fla. - Two East Naples men have been awarded a prestigious medal for saving a driver whose car went into a lake a year ago.
It was July 3rd, 2008, when Ray Davis' car veered off Lakewood Boulevard, across a fairway and into a golf course lake. Davis had a medical problem, but what could have been a deadly accident, turned into a heroic rescue when two strangers dove in to help.
"I knew he was in trouble. I could see he was unconscious. He was rocking back and forth and I immediately started taking my clothes off on the way to the water ," Terry Odom says.
Odom and fellow rescuer Richard Cameron are two of 22 people recently recognized with Carnegie Medals in a nationwide selection for extraordinary courage in an attempt to save a life.
"This is a humbling honor. Its very humbling. Its a surprise," Odom says.
For Odom, this rescue isn't about being a hero, its now about having found a new best friend.
"Ray and I sit together at church and we also have dinner once a week," Odom says.
Odom and Cameron will receive a financial grant, along with their Carnegie Medal, which will be shipped to them in the near future.
