Disregarding all perils, Gordon MacDonald saved five area children from drowning in the East River near Charlottetown, in the late afternoon of 22 March 1983. The five children, ranging in age from nine to twelve, had been playing on an ice floe when strong winds and receding tides carried them one kilometre from shore. Another child, who had remained at the river's edge, ran to alert Mr. MacDonald. Seeing the children drift toward the open sea, he launched a small rowboat knowing that hitting even one of the small ice floes on the surface could toss him into the icy waters. Reaching the youngsters just as the ice floe began to break up, Mr. MacDonald instructed them to crawl on board his two-seat boat and, though the wind and strong current slowed his progress, he struggled with the dangerously overcrowded rowboat. For more than one hour, he skilfully manoeuvred around the many ice floes floating downstream, finally succeeding in reaching shore. His brave action averted a tragedy.