Star of Courage

• Awarded on: January 12, 1987
• Invested on: March 06, 1987

Early on the morning of March 29, 1986, Paul Doucet rescued a girl from a submerged car. He, the girl and two other people had been in the car when it skidded off a slippery wharf and nose-dived into three and a half metres of icy water. Only about a half metre of the car trunk remained above water. Mr. Doucet and a female occupant were able to surface quickly. When it became apparent that the others were trapped, Mr. Doucet, a non-swimmer, dove three times and on the third attempt, succeeded in pulling the other female passenger to the surface. The first girl held on to the second while Mr. Doucet dove at least five more times, trying to locate the driver of the car. Noticing his growing weakness, he resurfaced and took over holding the second girl while the first swam to the wharf and found help. Two people, responding to the call for assistance, managed to extricate the driver, but he was already dead. The girl saved by Mr. Doucet suffered no serious harm, although she would certainly have died but for his actions.