Blog

Roswell, Georgia, teen awarded medal for saving life

Oliver Yowell (left) and Andrew Warren (right)
Oliver Yowell (left) and Andrew Warren (right) – Photo – City of Roswell, GA, Facebook page

The city of Roswell, a suburb north of Atlanta, Georgia, and the Atlanta Area Council, Boy Scouts of America honored Oliver Yowell, an Eagle Scout with bronze and gold palm distinction, during Roswell’s city council meeting in early June.

Yowell saved the life of 22-year-old Andrew Warren, a former Georgia Tech student. Warren and several others were kayaking in the Sweetwater Creek, west of Atlanta in January, when he was caught in a terminal hydraulic. His fellow kayakers made several failed attempts to rescue him. Placing his own life in danger, Yowell, a 17-year-old Roswell High school student, paddled toward Warren, just getting close enough to rescue him.

For his heroic action, Yowell received the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms. Boy Scouts of America confers this recognition in exceptional cases to a youth member or adult leader who has demonstrated unusual heroism and extraordinary skill or resourcefulness in saving or attempting to save a life at extreme risk to self. The BSA awarded only 11 Honor Metal with Crossed Palms in 2013.

Avatar photo

Newsroom Blog

This blog is managed and written by staff of the Communications Department of the Boy Scouts of America. 

/www.scoutingnewsroom.org/blog