Star of Courage

• Awarded on: August 4, 1987
• Invested on: September 25, 1987

In the early morning of August 20, 1986, Daniel Penney, with help from Bonnie Patterson and Kenneth Ridgway, saved a man from burning to death while trapped in his damaged car. The driver had failed to negotiate a sharp curve in a road near Sidney, British Columbia, spun around and driven backwards into a ditch. Fire broke out under the engine compartment and smoke filled the car. Mrs. Patterson was the first to discover the vehicle and had tried in vain to smother the fire and open the driver's side door in order to rescued the unconscious man, but it was jammed. Daniel Penney, who was convalescing from a heart attack at the time, arrived and tried unsuccessfully to pull the driver through the open window. Crawling over the car to the passenger side, he entered the smoke and flame-filled vehicle, determined by touch that the driver's leg was stuck and freed it. With Bonnie Patterson and Kenneth Ridgway pulling on the man from the outside and Mr. Penney pushing from the inside, they were able to remove him through the driver's window seconds before the interior of the car burst into flames.

Bonnie Patterson and Kenneth Ridgway received the Medal of Bravery for their participation in this rescue.