Risking his own life, Gaétan Lapointe freed a woman and her five-year-old nephew from a car which had caught fire following a traffic accident in St-Antoine, Quebec, on March 26, 1996. When Mr. Lapointe arrived at the scene, flames were shooting from under the hood and the two occupants were trapped behind the twisted doors of the vehicle. Mr. Lapointe immediately reached in through the window on the driver's side and grabbed the young boy by the collar. He undid the boy's seat belt and pulled him out over the injured and unconscious woman. In spite of the smoke and flames licking the dashboard, Mr. Lapointe leaned in a second time through the broken window and undid the woman's seat belt. He freed her feet and pulled her out a few moments before the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames.