SHS Teacher Receives Carnegie Medal for Heroism

John Catania fought off an assailant with knife on a subway in 2022.A Scarsdale High School Art Teacher who heroically saved a woman on the subway in 2022 has been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism. John Catania will receive a gold medal and a one-time grant of $7,500.

As we reported in 2022, Catania fought off an assailant who attacked a woman on the subway with a knife and ended up being severely injured himself. Below is an account of what happened:

A 28-year-old woman was sitting on a subway car in New York City on Nov. 22, 2022, when a 6’4”, 30-year-old man walked up to her and suddenly slashed her in the face with a 3-inch, bladed weapon described by police as a shank. John Catania, a 29-year-old art teacher from New York, stood across from the assailant as the train made its stop. He saw the first strike and yelled at the assailant, who ignored him. The assailant struck the woman again with the weapon. Catania rushed at the assailant and shoved him away from the woman, which allowed her to escape to an adjacent car. Other passengers on the moving train scattered as Catania grappled with the assailant, who stabbed him repeatedly in the head and back. As they struggled, Catania grabbed the assailant’s legs and took him to the ground as the train reached a stop and the assailant fled the scene. Catania, who was covered in blood, also exited the train, where a bystander wrapped Catania’s head with a sweatshirt and escorted him to police above the platform. He suffered 11 lacerations to the head and upper back, which were stapled and sutured shut. Catania recovered. The woman suffered a cut to her cheek and her hand. She too, recovered. The assailant was arrested on attempted murder, hate crimes, and other charges. At the time of the Hero Fund’s investigation, he was awaiting trial.

Catania is among 18 individuals who are being honored for extraordinary acts of heroism. According to a press release other honorees include a 34-year-old healthcare worker who saved a boy who had fallen through ice covering an apartment complex pond and a 62-year-old repairman who entered a burning home three times to rescue an 11-month-old baby. Others are being honored posthumously including a 31-year-old mother who died attempting to save her 1-year-old son from their burning home, a 28-year-old father, who drowned attempting to save his 7-year-old daughter, and a 45-year-old father who died attempting to save his teen daughter from drowning.

Below find information about the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and learn more here:
https://www.carnegiehero.org