A 39-year-old Shakopee man who died saving another man from drowning will be awarded a Carnegie medal for heroism.

Dmitriy A. Bondarenko is among 20 others in the United States and Canada who are being honored for risking their lives while trying to save someone else.

Bondarenko was on an August 2016 family vacation in Panama City, Fla., when he charged into rough water to save his brother-in-law, Aleks M. Kanishchev, who was struggling in strong currents that pulled him away from shore.

Authorities had issued a "double red flag warning" that day, warning people not to enter the water. Rescuers were called numerous times to help swimmers who had gotten into trouble.

Bondarenko, almost within reach of his brother-in-law, urged him to swim.

Then Bondarenko went under the water. He never resurfaced.

Kanishchev swam out of the rip current and was headed to shore when another man with a rescue tube escorted him to the beach. He was treated at the scene for water inhalation and near exhaustion.

Bondarenko's body was recovered the next day after a search by the Coast Guard and a Navy helicopter.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which announced the medal winners on Tuesday, also will award a grant to the honorees or their families. The Pittsburgh-based organization, was started in 1904 by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Over that time, $39.6 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788