Lifeguard Honored for Rescue

Katie Osiecki of Amagansett received a proclamation from the New York State Assembly during an East Hampton Town Board meeting last Thursday, honoring her for saving a woman who was drowning in Napeague Bay last year.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele decided to seek what he called the assembly’s “highest honor” for Ms. Osiecki after learning she had received the prestigious Carnegie Medal from the Carnegie Hero Fund in Pittsburgh. Andrew Carnegie established the fund in 1904 to recognize those who risk their lives, and Ms. Osiecki was one of 20 people nationwide to receive the medal and a financial grant in late 2013. The proclamation presentation was delayed a bit, Mr. Thiele said, while she was out of town.

Ms. Osiecki, then 21, was returning to her Amagansett house on April 21 when she heard cries for help. With the help of others, she located a woman yelling from the water, on the north side of Lazy Point about 220 feet offshore. An ocean lifeguard and volunteer with the East Hampton Ocean Rescue Squad, she jumped into the dark waters just as the woman was being pulled into the channel. She positioned the drowning woman on her back and brought her back to shore.