Woman honored for saving boy

PITTSBURGH — A receptionist who used a child’s booster seat to fight off a pit bull that was attacking a 12-year-old boy is one of 16 people being honored with Carnegie med- als for heroism.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, based in Pitts- burgh, announced the win- ners Thursday.

Ana Ramirez was driving home with her 15-year-old daughter April 18, 2017, when she rounded a corner and saw Jose Ramos being attacked by two 65-pound dogs. The boy had been taking his husky for a walk on a leash when a male and female pit bull pounced.

Ramirez honked her horn, which caused the female dog to flee, but the male kept attacking Jose and his dog. She grabbed a child’s booster seat out of her car, ran toward the pit bull and struck it. The animal latched on to her wrist, and she hit it again with the booster seat, causing it to finally flee. She escorted Jose home.

She told The Modesto Bee newspaper she wasn’t afraid.

“No, I was just mad; I guess my anger took over,” Ramirez told the newspaper at the time. “My reaction was to defend.”

She and Jose were treated for bites and recovered.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was founded and endowed by the late steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism in a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer, who died trying to rescue others.

The commission investigates stories of heroism and awards medals and cash several times a year. It has given away $40.4 million to 10,044 awardees or their families since 1904.