Two years after Will Drennan drowned while saving a child from the rushing rain waters in the Riverdale Park ditch, a national organization has recognized him for the selfless action.

Drennan is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal, an award given to civilians who perform heroic actions. The recognition only further confirms the characterization by Drennan’s son, Hayden, who readily calls his father a superhero.

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In August 2022, after football practice at the Germantown park, Drennan rescued a boy he did not know from the rushing waters in the ditch. Others tried to help Drennan, but the surge brought on by torrential rains overtook him. He drowned in the ditch that runs under Neshoba Road on the park’s north side.

Lauren Drennan, Will’s ex-wife, is still haunted that their son, Hayden, was at the park when it happened and said “Daddy’s head never came above water.”