Coralville man posthumously awarded Carnegie Medal for Heroism

A Coralville man who drowned in 2022 while rescuing his friend’s 8-year-old son from the Iowa River has posthumously been awarded a Carnegie Medal for Heroism by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

The commission awards the medal to “individuals from throughout the United States and Canada who risk themselves to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others. The Carnegie Medal is considered North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism,” according to a news release about the award.

Wegayewu Sahilu Faris died Aug. 5, 2022 at the age of 42. He was fishing with his family and some friends in the Iowa River at River Junction Access near Lone Tree when Mathias Kassa, the 8-year-old son of Faris’ friend Wondewossen Kendo, went into the river and began struggling. Faris entered the river to try to save the child.

“Wegayewu didn’t even ask me to do something. He just got in the water to save my son,” Kendo said.

Kendo also got in the water, but struggled to reach Kassa because of the strong current. Faris got to where Kassa was in the river and began yelling for help, drawing the attention of a nearby kayaker, who helped get the boy safely out of the water, where bystanders performed CPR.

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Faris became submerged while helping the boy. After getting the child to shore, the kayaker and others began looking for him as law enforcement was called. Johnson County Sheriff’s deputies located Faris’ body about an hour after he went into the water.

The child was treated at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and released the next day.

“I’m trying to save myself at that moment. I wasn’t even able to reach them, because I’m not a good swimmer,” Kendo said. “Then after the kayaker got my son, I thought Wegayewu was right there, but he was not there ... Everything happened instantly. I feel guilty still. I don’t have any words to express it. I wish that day had not happened.”

‘He is a hero’

Kendo has kept in contact with Faris’ family and tries to support them with things that Faris would have done if he were still alive, including buying Christmas presents for Faris’ children.

“I feel like I didn’t do enough. But no matter what I do, I can’t bring him back. That makes me sad. He was a wonderful person. He always wanted to help,” Kendo said. “He is a hero. He deserved more than that. I’m 100 percent sure he would have done it for any kid, for anyone.”

Faris was born on May 5, 1980, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Sahilu Faris and Mulu Tolosa, and immigrated to Iowa in 2004, eventually settling in Coralville, according to his obituary.

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He worked as a custodial worker at City High School in Iowa City for 17 years, while also studying several subjects at Kirkwood Community College, including truck driving classes. Faris had wanted to start his own truck driving company with Kendo, and encouraged Kendo to get his commercial driver’s license.

“Wegayewu was a terrific husband, father, brother, friend and co-worker. He lived his life with honesty, love and compassion. He was a hardworking man and instilled that work ethic in his kids with the little time he had with them,” Faris’ wife, Teyobesta Tewabe, told The Gazette in 2022.

“He loved learning new things and the challenges that come with that. There was nothing he could not fix, or at least try until exhaustion. He was a provider and a protector to his family here and in Ethiopia.”

Honorees receive Carnegie Medal, financial grant

Faris is the first person from Coralville to receive the Carnegie Medal, according to Carnegie Hero online records. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was made aware of his act of heroism through multiple news articles about the event and a GoFundMe page that was posted on behalf of the family, according to Jewels Phraner, the director of outreach and communications for the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

The GoFundMe page raised $73,371, including a $200 donation from the West High School custodial staff.

Recipients of the award, or their families, receive a base financial grant of $5,500. They can also apply for need-based grants for things like funeral costs, scholarship opportunities for children of the recipient, and ongoing assistance to families that have lost their main breadwinner. The application process for additional grants for the recently announced winners has not yet been completed, according to Phraner.

The awards are announced four times per year, and Faris is one of 17 people to receive the award this quarter. Because each medal is personalized for the individual, it can take two or three months after the announcement of the award before the medal is made and presented. If the family is interested in a presentation ceremony, the commission will look for a local official who could make the presentation once the medal is ready, Phraner said.

Since the Carnegie Hero Fund was established in 1904, the Carnegie Medal has been awarded to 10,422 individuals, who have received a total of $45 million.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com