Software engineer swam into Hurricane Helene floodwaters to rescue a trapped woman
On September 27, 2024, as Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, 57-year-old software engineer Eddie Hunnell of Holly Springs, North Carolina, was near Grassy Creek when he learned a woman named Leslie Worth had been swept into the raging North Fork New River when floodwaters knocked her home from its foundation. Hunnell tried to paddle upstream in a canoe, then abandoned the canoe and dove into the debris-filled current himself. He intercepted Worth, grabbed her life vest, and guided her through roughly 600 feet of violent water until the river widened enough to reach the bank. Neither was injured. The Carnegie Hero Fund awarded Hunnell the Carnegie Medal in 2025, and Holly Springs town council formally presented it at a November 18, 2025 council meeting.
Honored by Map of Heroes — recognized here from public reporting.
Added June 12, 2026
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