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Four Iowans awarded 2025 Governor's Lifesaving Award for heroic acts
Actions included saving a couple from freezing water after a UTV crash, and pulling residents from burning homes
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DES MOINES — Four Iowans were recognized by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday for their heroic efforts to save others’ lives, including saving one’s lifelong friend from freezing water and an elderly couple from a burning house.
They were the recipients of the 2025 Governor’s Lifesaving Award, a program launched in 1977 to honor everyday Iowans who perform a courageous act to save the lives of others.
This year’s recipients were Meagan Murray of New Hampton, Michael Edwards of Clinton, Kyle Peterson of Spirit Lake and John Wonio of Des Moines. They were awarded two different types of awards offered by the program: Lifesaving with Valor for individuals who risk their lives in an attempt to save the life of another individual and the Lifesaving Award, which is given to those who have attempted to save the life of another individual, but whose lives were not in jeopardy during the rescue.
“Four Iowans who in a moment that demanded everything of them acted without hesitation to put the needs of others ahead of their own,” Reynolds said in a social media post. “Thank you for your courage and split-second decisions. Iowa is honored to recognize your extraordinary bravery.”
Michael Edwards
Edwards was awarded the Lifesaving with Valor Award for saving his friend of 50 years from freezing water after his friend fell through the ice while ice fishing at South Sabula Lake in Jackson County in February. Edwards’ friend was clutching the tip of his ice auger, which Edwards grabbed onto in an attempt to pull him out of the water. Both began to slip before another man joined them at a water’s edge with a fishing sled, which helped them pull Edwards’ friend out of the water.
“Absent a friendship that spanned decades, the outcome would have undoubtedly been different,” an Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesperson said in a statement.
Meagan Murray
Murry was awarded the Lifesaving Award for her actions on Sept. 30, 2024, to save an elderly woman from her burning home.
An 85-year-old New Hampton woman was cooking breakfast when her house began to fill with black smoke. She tried to call 911, but the phone line was dead, and she couldn’t escape when an exterior door refused to open.
Murray, who was delivering mail nearby, saw the smoke and immediately called 911. She knocked on all the windows and doors of the house and eventually heard a faint reply. Realizing someone was inside the house, Murray forced open an exterior door and helped the woman to safety.
“On that day, an elderly mom was in dire need of a guardian angel and Meagan fit the bill,” Iowa DPS said in a statement.
Kyle Peterson
Peterson received the Lifesaving with Valor Award after saving a couple whose UTV broke through the ice on a frozen-over East Lake in northwest Iowa.
On Jan. 29, 2025, during the annual Okoboji Winter Games, couples were making their way to a restaurant across East Lake on their UTVs. They hit a large swath of open water, which one group had no choice but to accelerate and try to skim across. They ended up hitting an ice shelf, throwing the husband and wife into the freezing water. The other couples tried to help, but the span of water was too wide.
Meanwhile, Peterson was sitting down to dinner with his wife at a nearby restaurant when he saw the headlights on the lake shoot up and vanish. He ended up running the half-mile distance to the couple, where he found them grasping onto the ice shelf. Peterson was able to pull the couple out of the water and guide them back to shore.
John Wonio
Wonio received the Lifesaving with Valor Award after helping rescue his neighbors from a burning home weeks before Christmas.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 2024, Wonio was getting ready for bed when he noticed flames leaping from his neighbors’ kitchen window and heard screams coming from within. He immediately called 911 and yelled his neighbors’ names before a Des Moines police officer arrived soon after. Wonio and the officer broke down the front door and assisted one occupant, an elderly male resident who had just had cataract surgery and was completely disoriented, out of the house.
While the house was engulfed in flames, Wonio and the officer saw a woman sitting in a chair in the living room. After yelling out and receiving no response, Wonio ran into the burning home and pulled the unconscious woman out of the house. Both occupants were hospitalized and eventually recovered
“Needless to say, John gave his neighbors a Christmas gift they will never forget … the gift of life,” Iowa DPS said in a statement.
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