Star of Courage

• Awarded on: August 27, 1990
• Invested on: December 07, 1990

On the morning of February 10, 1988 Police Cst. Martin McDonough rescued several people from a house fire in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. He was forced to enter a smoke-filled stairwell twice in order to coax a woman out of the burning building, then, learning that her two children were trapped on the third level, went up the other side of the duplex. Crawling through a hole in the wall, he located the frightened children and was able to push the young boy out through the opening. The girl ran down the stairs, followed by Cst. McDonough. Hearing shouts that she was safely outside, he made his way back up the stairs and out through the hole seconds before the house was engulfed in flames. Cst. McDonough was treated in hospital for smoke inhalation.