Stephen Coenen, a New Orleans landscape architect, has been named by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission as one of 21 recipients of the Carnegie Medal. The medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Seventy-four people have been recognized by the commission in 2005?EUR??,,????'??+8,943 total since the Pittsburgh-based fund’s inception in 1904.

Coenen rescued Michael Williams from an assault in New Orleans, Louisiana, December 7, 2002. Williams, 36, was walking on a residential street late at night and was attacked by two men, one armed with a loaded handgun. He was dropped to the pavement, beaten and robbed. Coenen, 53, returning on a bicycle to his nearby home, witnessed the assault. He approached the scene on his bicycle and shouted at the assailants, who did not flee. Coenen advanced closer and threw his bicycle at the assailants. The armed assailant aimed his gun at Coenen, hitting him in the chest and fled. Coenen suffered a collapsed lung that required a hospital stay and a two-month convalescence. The assailants were apprehended.

Three of 21 awardees died in helping others. Five of the heroes joined forces to rescue injured workmen from the bottom of a mineshaft in Cameron, W. Va., immediately following a methane explosion in early 2003.

The awardees, or their survivors, receive a $3,500 grant.