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Vol. 136, No. 36 — September 7, 2002
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
CANADIAN BRAVERY DECORATIONS
The Governor General, the Right Honourable ADRIENNE CLARKSON, on the
recommendation of the Canadian Decorations Advisory Committee, has awarded
bravery decorations as follows:
Medal of Bravery
BRIAN MICHAEL BAKER, M.B.
Crossfield, Alberta
On November 4, 2000, Firefighter Brian Baker was struck by a car while
escorting a woman to her stranded vehicle during a blinding snow storm
in Crossfield, Alberta. When the tow truck arrived to pull the woman's
car away from the median, Firefighter Baker volunteered to escort her
from his rescue van at the side of the four-lane highway back to her abandoned
vehicle. With visibility hampered by the blizzard, he feared for the woman's
safety and instructed her to hold onto his arm. They were halfway across
the road when they found themselves directly in the path of a car travelling
through the snow squall at excessive speed for the road conditions. Without
hesitation and regard for his own safety, Mr. Baker pushed the woman out
of harm's way. In a split second, he took the full impact and was thrown
several metres. As a result of his valiant efforts, Mr. Baker suffered
multiple serious injuries.
Medal of Bravery
SANDRA CHALIFOUX, M.B.
Gatineau, Quebec
On March 3, 2001, Sandra Chalifoux saved a two-year-old girl by catching
her before she could be struck by a vehicle on a busy highway in Egan-Sud,
Haute-Gatineau, Quebec. While the child's mother and Ms. Chalifoux were
fastening other children into their car seats, the little girl ran off
toward the nearby highway. Catching sight of the child, Ms. Chalifoux
dashed after her, calling out so she would turn around. After stopping
for a few seconds, the little girl made her way to the middle of the highway.
Without hesitation, Ms. Chalifoux ran after the child, grabbed her by
the hood of her coat and lifted her, just as a van on one side and a car
coming the other way narrowly avoided them through a dangerous manoeuvre.
Holding the child firmly in her arms, Ms. Chalifoux carried her to safety.
Medal of Bravery
SERGEANT ROBERT WILLIAM CLARKE, M.B.
Edmonton, Alberta
In February 2001, Robert Clarke of the Edmonton Police Service rescued
a woman from a burning house while working as a civilian police officer
for NATO in Kosovo. Sgt. Clarke was on a training assignment with local
police officers when the group was told of a fire nearby. The men raced
to the scene and found a two-storey house fully engulfed in flames with
seven people inside attempting to fight the fire. Sgt. Clarke, along with
three Kosovar police officers, entered the building and searched through
heavy smoke and surrounding flames until all the residents were located.
They had succeeded in removing them to safety when the homeowner raced
back inside, distraught at seeing all her belongings go up in flames.
Sgt. Clarke rushed back in after the woman who, despite her severe cuts
and burns, had made her way to an upstairs bedroom. Holding his breath,
he managed to drag the resisting victim down the stairs and outside where
he treated her injuries.
Medal of Bravery
SHAWN DAVID CURRIE, M.B.
Truro, Nova Scotia
In the early hours of June 24, 1999, nine-year-old Shawn Currie rescued
his three-year-old brother from their burning house in Edmonton, Alberta.
The boys were sleeping in the living room when Shawn, awakened by the
smell of smoke, noticed flames spreading on the ceiling of the kitchen
area across the hall. After leaving the house to call for help, he realized
that his baby brother was still in the blazing home. Despite his young
age, Shawn did not hesitate to run back inside the house, which was now
full of thick black smoke. After searching in vain for his brother in
the living room, he ran upstairs and followed the little boy's cries to
the bedroom where he had taken refuge. Shawn picked him up and, in complete
darkness and through choking smoke, carried him down the stairs and outside
to safety.
Medal of Bravery
PETER GLADDEN, M.B.
Hudson, Ohio, U.S.A.
PAUL LANDRY, M.B.
Iqaluit, Nunavut
On July 31, 2001, Peter Gladden and Paul Landry risked their lives to
rescue four hikers who were overcome by the current while crossing a fast-flowing
river at the base of Turner Glacier in Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin
Island, Nunavut. Messrs. Gladden and Landry were at their campsite when
they saw the hikers being carried downstream into Glacier Lake. Using
hiking poles, the rescuers crossed the forceful waters of a series of
deep-braided rivers to reach a sand bar near the quicksand portion of
the lake. They then removed part of their heavy, wet clothing and swam
the ten metres that separated them from three of the hikers huddled together.
As they pulled the trio to safety, they noticed that the fourth hiker
was drifting farther out into the lake. Despite exhaustion and the onset
of hypothermia, Messrs. Gladden and Landry dove back into the freezing
water, made their way some twenty-five metres out to the unconscious victim,
kept afloat by his backpack, and pulled him back to shore. Thanks to the
efforts of Messrs. Gladden and Landry, all survived the ordeal.
Medal of Bravery
DAVID G. JACKSON, M.B.
Jewel Lake, British Columbia
On May 23, 2000, David Jackson rescued a fisherman from his submerged
vehicle, in Jewel Lake, British Columbia. The man was loading his boat
onto his truck when the vehicle suddenly rolled backwards into the lake.
He jumped inside to try to stop it but the truck floated away. He was
trapped inside the vehicle that quickly filled with water and sank, some
seven metres from shore. Alerted by screams, Mr. Jackson entered the cold,
murky water and dived down to the vehicle, stuck in the silt-covered bottom,
some five metres below the surface. Although forced to come up for air
several times, he persevered in his efforts to pry open the passenger's
door, inches at a time. Squeezing his upper body through the doorframe,
he then groped inside the cab until he felt the man's unconscious body.
Despite weakening strength, he grabbed hold of the man's shirt, managed
to dislodge his foot, which was pinned between the door and the frame,
and pulled him out. Once on shore, Mr. Jackson revived the victim
with the assistance of others.
Medal of Bravery
DEPUTY SHERIFF JODY
KATHRYN LEIGH MCLEAN KUNTZ, M.B.
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
On December 7, 2000, Jody Kuntz risked her life trying to prevent a
suicidal man from jumping from a small plane, some 3 000 metres above
the Hecate Strait on the northwest coast of British Columbia. Deputy Sheriff
Kuntz was escorting the prisoner to Prince Rupert when, twenty minutes
into the flight, he lunged out of his seat toward the emergency exit.
By the time Mrs. Kuntz had unfastened her seat belt and reached his side,
he had forced the door partially open and was trying to squeeze out. From
a crouching position, Mrs. Kuntz was able to wrap her arms around his
left leg but the man managed to partially exit the plane, dragging her
with him. Staring at the void below her, she then braced herself against
the door frame with one hand and managed to hold onto the back of the
prisoner's clothes with the other. Determined to end his life, the man
fought to free himself from her grip and, despite Mrs. Kuntz's desperate
attempt to pull him back, he eventually broke free and fell to his death.
Medal of Bravery
BIRK MADSEN, M.B.
Abbotsford, British Columbia
On May 22, 2001, while honeymooning in Costa Rica, Birk Madsen prevented
further injury to his wife following a swarming attack by five teenage
robbers on bikes, two of whom were armed with guns. The couple were out
for an early evening stroll near their hotel when they were suddenly surrounded
by the gang. Shots were fired during the struggle that ensued and Mr.
Madsen was struck in the face with a pistol and fell to the ground. Meanwhile,
his wife had escaped into the traffic for help but was seriously wounded
when one of the thieves fired in her direction. Determined to save his
wife from further harm, Mr. Madsen tackled the thief and wrestled his
pistol away. Brandishing the assailant's gun, he then grabbed hold of
a bicycle to shield himself from the criminals until they finally abandoned
their attack and fled. Mr. Madsen then jumped with his wife into one of
the cars that had stopped and brought her to a hospital for emergency
care.
Medal of Bravery
BRIAN WALTER THOMPSON, M.B.
Palgrave, Ontario
ROY JAMES WOLKER, M.B.
Rothesay, New Brunswick
On August 22, 1999, Brian Thompson and Roy James Wolker risked their
lives to help victims of a head-on collision that set a motor-home and
a minivan on fire on the Trans-Canada Highway near Grand Falls, New Brunswick.
First at the scene, Mr. Thompson stood on the rear bumper of the minivan,
reached through the shattered window to unfasten the nearest child's seat
belt then passed the three-year-old girl to waiting hands. He then attempted
to free her two-year-old sister, but whipping flames burned his face and
arms, forcing him to retreat. Undeterred, he reached back in and managed
to pull the toddler out moments before the motor-home's propane tanks
exploded and both vehicles went up into a fire ball. Meanwhile, Mr. Wolker
had rushed toward a woman who had been ejected from the minivan and lay
on the pavement between the flaming wrecks. Through intense smoke and
flames, he dashed to her side and dragged her away from danger, suffering
burns to his arm in the process. Tragically, the woman, her infant daughter
and the couple in the motor home did not survive.
Medal of Bravery
NOAH EDWARD WIGGANS, M.B.
Sylvan Lake, Alberta
On July 12, 1999, Noah Wiggans attempted to rescue a man, his son and
his daughter who were lying unconscious at the bottom of a well used as
a root cellar on their family farm near Sylvan Lake, Alberta. Alerted
that his three neighbours had collapsed after going down into the oxygen-deprived
well, Mr. Wiggans raced to the scene to help. Although fully aware that
the fumes in the enclosure created a grave risk to his own life, he took
a deep breath and climbed down the three-metre ladder to the bottom of
the small, dark and damp concrete cellar where the victims' limp bodies
lay in a heap. With bursting lungs, he came back up, gasping for air,
then hurried down again with a rope which he tied around the top victim's
waist. He then persevered in his struggle to pull the teenage boy up through
the narrow opening until emergency crews arrived. While the father recovered
soon afterwards, sadly, his two children did not survive the ordeal.
LGEN (Ret'd) JAMES C. GERVAIS, C.M.M., C.D.
Deputy Secretary
[36-1-o]
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