Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: February 6, 1989
• Invested on: June 02, 1989

Shortly after midnight on August 17, 1987, a woman and her friend decided to swim across the Gatineau River to Hull, Quebec. The woman soon experienced difficulty in staying afloat, but when she called to her companion for help she realized that he had disappeared. She panicked and began to scream. Alerted by a bystander the police soon arrived at the scene. Mr. Yves Hébert saw the patrol cars and heard the bystander telling the officers that someone was in danger of drowning. He immediately parked his car and approached the scene. Although they were equipped with flashlights the police were having difficulty locating the victim through a thick fog which rendered visibility almost nil. Mr. Hébert volunteered to go to the aid of the struggling woman. Fighting the current and guided only by the sound of the victim's voice, he swam for some 540 metres. When he reached the woman he tried to calm her, then placed his arm around her neck to keep her head above the water and pulled her towards the shore. When they had some twenty metres left to go, a policeman, who had ventured out towards them, held out a piece of wood. Without letting go of the victim Mr. Hébert grabbed the wood and they were soon all back on shore.