SALEM, Ohio -   A Salem woman has been presented with one of America’s most prestigious civilian awards for heroism.

Forty-nine-year-old teacher Melinda Wilms received the Carnegie Medal during a ceremony at Salem City Hall on Monday for a July 29, 2019, water rescue in Mosquito Creek Lake near Cortland.

A 12-year-old boy was with five other children playing in the reservoir when he chased a soccer ball into deeper water and struggled to stay afloat.

Christine L. Beheler, 41, a stay-at-home mom of Niles, who had brought the children to the lake that day, entered the water and swam about 150 feet to the boy, who was panicking.

The boy submerged Beheler as 43-year-old police sergeant Mark A. Krempasky, of Warren, and 49-year-old teacher Melinda J. Wilms, of Salem, also responded.

Krempasky reached Beheler, who was unresponsive, towed her back into wadable water where others assisted in getting her to the beach.

Wilms, who had a pool noodle, reached one end of it to the boy, who held on while she swam back to the beach towing him.

Officer Krempasky has also been awarded the Carnegie Medal.

Beheler, who could not be revived, will receive the Carnegie Medal posthumously in a separate event.

Under the Commission's definition, a hero must be a civilian who voluntarily risks his or her life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person.

The rescuer must have no full measure of responsibility for the safety of the victim.

There must be conclusive evidence to support the act's occurrence, and the act must be called to the attention of the Commission within two years.

To hear more about the rescue, watch the video below.