There’s a local angle behind Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ presentation on Dec. 8 of the highest honor for civilian heroics throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The well-deserving recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Medal is Sgt. Stephen Rhodes, an agent in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division. Rhodes was honored for rescuing eight people after a vessel capsized along Grand Isle’s beach May 7.

But a ninth passenger nearly became a horrible statistic. Among the passengers who went overboard was 7-year-old Jacqueline Toledo, who became trapped under the overturned boat while wearing her life jacket.

“What Sgt. Rhodes did on that day is the purest example of the meaning of heroism, which is the willingness to serve others at whatever the cost. He did not hesitate to act and for that a family and especially a little girl are alive today,” Robert Shadoin, LDWF secretary, said at the ceremony

The Carnegie Medal, awarded by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, has been given to 10,387 honorees since its inception in 1904. The latest honoree is Rhodes, who met the medal’s requirements and then some after he arrived on scene to rescue eight people and put them on his boat.

Rhodes had to overcome a slight language barrier to determine his next move.

Adults on the boat who spoke broken English frantically got it across to him that a ninth passenger, young Jacqueline, was still missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Rhodes’ training and instincts kicked in as he analyzed the emergency.

One of the girl’s brothers said she was wearing a life jacket.

Rhodes said in a television interview May 9, 2022, “And instantly I knew that the only place for this little girl to be would be under the vessel. She had to be trapped under the vessel.”

He shed his heavy gear, jumped in the water and grabbed the side of the boat. Then he realized he couldn’t safely swim under the boat to search for the girl.

“Again, the thought into my head: start using your legs. Stretch out under the vessel and start feeling with your legs. You have greater reach with your legs,” he said in the interview.

Rhodes pulled himself from the back to the front, where he felt what he believed was the girl.

“I took a couple deep breaths, dove underneath the boat, felt where I thought I felt her, and grabbed hold of her and part of her PFD, and pulled her out with me,” he said.

Jacqueline had been underwater too long. She wasn’t breathing.

“I could see that she was gone. Her eyes were open but they were not focused,” the enforcement agent said.

His two rounds of CPR saved her. He cranked up his boat and raced to Bridge Side Marine, radioing on the way in that he needed EMS. Paramedics who met him stabilized the girl, who was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

Jacqueline made a complete recovery.

“When you see a life come back … there aren’t words. It’s humbling,” Rhodes said.

The local angle?

Good Samaritans from Acadiana pitched in to make it a happy ending for the little girl who nearly drowned and her family. They were there to relax on the beach, fish and, as it turned out, join in a shrimp catching bonanza.

Brock Pellerin of Jeanerette and his friends Craig Hebert, who lives between Lydia and Patoutville, and Grant Hebert of Arnaudville helped make every minute count for Rhodes. Their quick thinking and actions contributed to the rescue.

Pellerin, an avid outdoorsman and past chairman of the Iberia Rod & Gun Club Saltwater Fishing Rodeo, and the Heberts were honored for their timely and valuable assistance with the Citizens Meritorious Service Award plaque each received during a Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meeting June 2 in Baton Rouge. The ceremony impressed the Good Samaritans.

“It was very nice. They went out of their way to recognize us,” Craig Hebert, a sugar cane farmer, said at the time.

“It was pretty nice. Like Craig said, they didn’t really have to do that. It makes you feel good for what you did,” Pellerin said.

That wild, late afternoon shrimping scene – men, women and children wielding cast nets and anything else at their disposal to load beaucoup ice chests with shrimp in the surf – was the reason officials summoned Rhodes, who was miles away patrolling Terrebonne Bay. He hurried to the scene and began enforcement procedures against those catching shrimp illegally or harvesting more than the 100-pound limit person.

While Rhodes was issuing citations, he noticed a boat floundering near a jetty, apparently after picking up a family on the beach. When the boat flipped, Rhodes’ LDWF tow vehicle and boat trailer were more than 10 football fields away on the beach.

Pellerin, a supervisor at his father’s business, Byron’s Cabinets, and the Heberts offered the enforcement agent a ride in their side-by-side ATV. When they all arrived at Rhodes’ boat, trailer and pickup truck, Pellerin removed the transom saver, Craig Hebert unhooked the winch and Grant Hebert backed the boat into the water, saving more precious seconds.

“We probably saved him a good amount of time. We thought we’d do what was right, what anybody else would do. We didn’t know it was going to be a life-saving event,” Pellerin said after he received his award the first week of June.

It was a happy ending. Jacqueline was airlifted to the hospital, Rhodes at her side. Later, after he returned to Grand Isle, he met up with Pellerin on the beach for a poignant moment.

“When he got back, I shook his hand. He hugged me. He was very emotional. I told him, ‘Thank you for your service,’” Pellerin said.