A Medina man who gave his life to save a stranger is being honored posthumously for his act of heroism.
Peter Radke, 43, was awarded a Carnegie Medal this week, an award created to honor those who risk their lives while saving, or attempting to save others.
Radke died last Spring when he jumped into Lake Erie to rescue a girl who was drowning.
The girl made it out alive but Radke did not.
Radke, his wife and his four children were attending a birthday party at Huntington Beach when he jumped in to save the girl. Rescue crews searched the water for four hours before they located his body.
Radke's wife, Michelle, said her family is touched by the big honor.
"I hope it will just serve as something for my children to look at, and their children, and maybe their children's children to remind them to tell stories to keep my husband memory alive," Michelle said. "Not just what he did and his death but how he lived his life everyday."
