Hero in deadly Taunton stabbing rampage awarded Carnegie Medal

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

Twitter: @RTurcoABC6

Facebook: RebeccaTurcoABC6

TAUNTON, Mass. – A very high honor has been awarded for the New Bedford school teacher who gave his life to save others during a stabbing rampage in Taunton.

George Heath has been awarded the Carnegie Medal, an honor given for outstanding acts of civilian heroism. The medal is awarded throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save others.

Last May, George and his wife Rosemary were at Bertucci’s in the Silver City Galleria when a mentally ill man stormed in and started stabbing a pregnant waitress. The Heath’s grabbed onto his shirt as George tried to snatch the knife from the man. George was stabbed in the head before an off-duty deputy sheriff, Lt. James Creed, shot and killed the attacker.

"Think of other people, put other people first, and that’s how George lived his life," Rosemary Heath told ABC6 News. "I’m very proud. Very proud of him, very proud to be his wife."

Rosemary nominated her late husband for the award. "You have to create that legacy, you have to be able to solidify it for the students and for myself and family and friends that all knew him," she said.

That legacy is reverberating through his students. "He’s always been a hero to us," said Dalymar Ruiz, who graduated last year.

"We know personally who he was and how he is as a person, and he definitely deserves this [medal]," added senior Kristin Gonzales.

Rosemary also nominated Lt. James Creed for the Carnegie Medal.

George is one of 20 people being given the Carnegie Medal this year.

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