Carnegie hero illustrates true Christmas message

We guess you could call them snowbirds.

Don and Loa Jean Wilkinson of Lincoln had had enough of Nebraska winters, and now that Don had retired from his job as a power plant employee, did something about it.

They were at their winter home in Port Aransas, Texas, about 20 miles from Corpus Christi, when Don, on the day after Valentine's Day, was doing one of the things he enjoyed best.

Don, and a friend were fishing on a wooden pier, extending 60 feet into Conn Brown Harbor, when they saw something that must have made his heart jump.

We don't know if the Wilkinsons have children or grandchildren, but we can imagine how Don felt when he saw a 5 year old boy fall from the end of the pier, into about eight feet of water.

We know because of what he did.

Don, 67, climbed over the railing and dropped six feet into the 60-degree water.

According to an official document, Don "grasped the boy, then held to one of the pier's supports while the boy clung to him.

"A man in a boat responded shortly and took the boy aboard. Unable to take Wilkinson aboard, the man let the boat drift toward shore, with Wilkinson holding to it.

"When they reached shallow water, the boy waded ashore and the boater assisted Wilkinson to a seated position," the document continued.

"Wilkinson lost consciousness. He was removed from the water by paramedics, then was hospitalized. He died early the next day of complications of near drowning."

Don's widow, Loa Jean, received a letter Monday from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, saying the commission was honoring her husband's selfless act with a medal and a $5,000 check. It's just one of 92 such medals the commission, established by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, is handing out to people who risked their lives "to an extraordinary degree" while trying to save others.

"I cried, but at the same time, I was happy," Mrs. Wilkinson said after receiving word of the award. "It's a wonderful thing they've done."

Not the usual sort of holiday story, is it?

Then again, it involves a young boy, and a man who died so another might live.

For those who look to the manger in Bethlehem for hope, it's the true message of Christmas.