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Milestones: A Carnegie hero

Minot native receives life-saving award

Kouba, Marena

A competitive swimmer, Marena Kouba first took up the sport in middle school in Minot. Her ability to handle herself in the water was invaluable during a vacation trip to Michigan in 2020 when she saved three people from drowning in Lake Superior.

Kouba recently learned she has been named a recipient of the Carnegie Medal, awarded by the Carnegie Hero Fund to individuals in the United States and Canada who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree saving or attempting to save the lives of others. The award is the highest civilian award given in North America.

Kouba considers it an honor to be recognized.

“I hadn’t done the act for any of the awards or the recognition. I just saw people out there struggling and knew that I had to help. But it’s definitely been nice, and I’m very appreciative,” she said.

Kouba, 22, is studying toward her master’s degree in higher education administration at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where she has competed on the swim team for five years.

She and her boyfriend, Dayton Nash, were visiting Marquette, Michigan, on July 19, 2020, when they spotted people in the water as they were hiking from the beach along a slim sandbar to a nearby island.

“The weather was really bad that day. It was still really sunny and warm outside but it was really windy. You could see the white caps on the water, and the lake is so big there that they actually have currents in the water. The currents were really strong that day, too,” she said.

She and Nash saw three people were struggling in the water, and Nash encouraged Kouba, a strong swimmer, to check it out.

“They were all separated by about 10 to 20 feet,” she said, noting the three were an uncle with an 11-year-old nephew and 10-year-old niece who had been in the cold water an extended time.

“I went over to the uncle first, and he was not doing too well. He was still above water, still was conscious, but I think he was a little delirious at this point. He’s just in shock,” she said.

She took hold of the man and swam to the children, who were screaming and crying.

“I just kind of told them to lay on their backs and look up at the sky, focus on deep breaths,” she recalled. Anchoring herself between the uncle and the two children who hung onto each other, she paddled several hundred feet to shore. She remembers the boy asking if they were going to die and responding, “Not on my watch.”

“It took a while to get back. The wind was blowing against us,” she said. She said she sought to keep the family members calm while she shouted to the crowd gathering on the shore for life jackets. Others on shore swam about 100 feet with the life jackets to reach them.

Arriving on shore, Kouba said she sat down briefly to catch her breath, but it was several more minutes before the Coast Guard arrived. Had she waited for the Coast Guard rather than going into the water, the family members might not have made it, she said.

With her nomination for the Carnegie award, Kouba and a number of people connected with the incident provided information and interviews.

She has been officially recognized as an award recipient but still is awaiting the medal that comes with the honor. She is one of 18 people to receive the award to this point in 2022.

A backstroke competitor, Kouba finished her swim career in March at St. Cloud State, where she was a team captain this year.

The daughter of Kevin and Julie Kouba, she spent her early years in Minot, attending Jim Hill Middle School and swimming on the Minot High swim team in eighth grade. She moved to Minnesota with her family shortly before starting high school.

Milestones is a series that celebrates former area residents for recent notable accomplishments. Nominations can be sent by email to news@minotdailynews.com.

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