LILBURN, Ga. — A Lilburn teacher and army veteran who served in Iraq has been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism after he courageously rescued a 90-year-old driver from a car engulfed in flames.
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“Basically, he was crying out for help, and I think I shocked him when I got there,” said Matthew Forrester.
Forrester says around 5 a.m. one morning in March 2025, a neighbor called to tell him a car had crashed in his backyard and was on fire. The driver, who had dementia, drove off a cul-de-sac and down a wide path that he thought was a road, behind Forrester’s home.
The car got stuck on some rocks, sending sparks that set the engine on fire. Fire and smoke started to fill the car, with the man trapped inside.
“I tried to get him out. He was panicking. I couldn’t see him at that point because there was so much smoke in the vehicle,” said Forrester.
Forrester served 10 years in Iraq, starting in 2003, and has been in battle. He remained calm as he worked to pull the man from the burning car.
“I got in there a little bit further, got underneath his armpits and yanked him out,” said Forrester.
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He dragged the man up to his front yard to safety.
“And about 20 seconds after me pulling him out, the engine exploded,” said Forrester.
“If you hadn’t come when you did, this guy likely would not have survived?” asked Channel 2’s Tom Regan.
“He would not have survived,” said Forrester.
“What was going through your mind? Did you realize you were putting yourself in grave danger by doing this?” asked Regan.
“It was a situation, I just reacted,” said Forrester.
The man he pulled from the car wasn’t seriously injured but died two months later from an unrelated cause.
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A Gwinnett Firefighter recommended Forrester be nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, for people who risk themselves “to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others.” The Carnegie Medal is considered North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism.
“I have never heard of the Carnegie Medal before. It’s an honor, definitely, to be nominated for it,” said Forrester.
The veteran says he is awaiting word from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission on when he will receive the prestigious medal.