Lake Norden Man Awarded Carnegie Hero Medal

A Lake Norden man was awarded a Carnegie Hero award Monday for saving a father and son from drowning in Lake Poinsett.

According to the online award description, on April 21, 2014, after their canoe tipped, Kyan Overbo, 9, sat atop the submerged craft as his father, Daniel Overbo, 37, struggled to push it toward the bank. They shouted for help.

Sleeping at his home nearby, Barthel, 21, a deputy sheriff then off duty, was alerted to the situation. He ran barefoot about 2,000 feet to a point on the bank opposite Kyan and Overbo. Wearing only gym shorts, Barthel entered the water, the temperature of which was about 40 degrees, and waded and then swam about 150 feet to the canoe.

Barthel then lifted Kyan from the canoe, swam and waded back toward the bank, and handed Kyan over to his mother, who was in shallow water. Barthel then returned to Overbo, who, nearly exhausted, had continued toward the bank. He aided Overbo from the lake and took him to his nearby home, where he and Kyan were warmed.

Overbo later sought medical treatment for ill effects of being in the water, but he recovered. Barthel suffered knee pain but recovered that day.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission named 19 individuals as recipients of the Carnegie Medal today/Monday. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. The commission has named 84 awardees in 2014 with 9,737 honored since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Awardees also receive a monetary grant.