NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agent, Sgt. Stephen Rhodes received the Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for heroism for his actions in the Gulf of Mexico.
He rescued 8 people and saved the life of a little girl.
Governor John Bel Edwards presented the award at Thursday’s Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting.
“We are very pleased to be able today to say Sgt. Rhodes, you are a true and selfless hero,” Edwards said. “Your actions on May 7, 2022, reflect great credit upon yourself and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries.”
Rhodes said his mother nominated him for the medal.
“It’s a really good day when you can have your mother take a lot of pride, a lot of pride in her son. I owe a lot to her.”
It was late in the afternoon, the day before Mother's Day and Rhodes was patrolling the beach on Grand Isle.
He spotted a small boat that overturned just offshore.
Rhodes quickly got his boat into the water and raced toward a family clinging to the hull of their vessel.
Once at the scene, he got eight people onto his boat.
He then dove into the water and found a 7-year-old girl trapped under the capsized vessel.
She was unresponsive.
He performed CPR and got her breathing again.
“To be there in that moment, to see her come back, to watch the changes in her as she returned to us, you can’t help but feel there is something greater than us in the world,” Rhodes told WWL Louisiana.
Rhodes was born and raised in Houma where he still lives.
He doesn’t consider himself a hero, but an example of all the good work his fellow wildlife agents and other first responders do on a daily basis.
“I’m one of a lot of people who do some really good stuff out there.,” Rhodes said.
The right man at the right time in the right place.
“I’m always going to try and help. I’m always going to go that extra distance to try and make their life better,” Rhodes said
Rhodes says kindness isn’t wasted on the person giving it.
He told WWL-TV, that as much as the little girl got a gift to have a second chance at life, he got a gift as well to be able to share an experience he’ll never forget.
“It’s a fantastic story with a tremendous outcome and the way that I look at it is I had the opportunity to be there.”
Sgt. Rhodes is one of 16 people to receive the Carnegie Medal this year. It’s awarded by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.