Medal of Bravery
Awarded on: 1986-09-29
Invested on: 1986-12-05
Adjutor Caron, M.B.
Lieutenant Yvon Léonard, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
On the morning of 30 June, 1985, Adjutor Caron attempted to land his seaplane after a mechanical breakdown. However, the aircraft, with four people aboard, overturned on Quebec's Rivière-des-Prairies. After coming to the surface, Mr. Caron dove back under and found his son, whom he brought up and sat on one of the wings. He had to return to the fully-submerged cabin three times before he could free his unconscious daughter and hand her over to witnesses who had reached the scene by boat. Exhausted, his eyes and skin burned by the gasoline covering the water's surface, Mr. Caron tried in vain to find his wife, still trapped inside the wreckage. Two Laval firemen arrived on the scene and attempted to rescue the woman. Although he could not swim, Lt. Léonard took over when his colleague had to give up. Undeterred by the danger, he strapped his firefighter's oxygen tank onto his back and dove into the water. In zero visibility, he was soon forced to resurface because his equipment snagged on the debris. On his second dive, he managed to grab one of the woman's legs as her inert body floated in the back of the cabin. He brought the victim to the surface, and she was taken to hospital.