Paul David Argent, M.B.
O.P.P. Constable David Robert Lewis, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
On the night of February 16, 1986, Mr. Paul Argent and Cst. David Lewis, equipped only with a canoe, rescued a man stranded on the thin ice of Lake St. Clair near Pike Creek, Ontario. Fearing the man and his companion, both members of a fishing party, would succumb to hypothermia, Cst. Lewis determined that a rescue attempt must be made, even though they lacked proper clothing and equipment. He and Mr. Argent strapped themselves to the canoe and made their way out across treacherously thin ice through a blinding snowstorm towards one of the victims who was located approximately one kilometre from shore. They had broken through the ice several times and, because of its thinness, were forced to halt their approach some 15 m. from the man, to whom they then threw a line. He tied it on and crawled to the canoe. Given the worsening weather conditions, they were unable to rescue the other man. However, they instructed him to remain calm, marked his position with a flare and made a flare line to the shore, where they notified the U.S. Coast Guard of his plight.