Star of Courage

• Awarded on: October 31, 1997
• Invested on: May 15, 1998

On August 19, 1996, Cindy Parolin died to save her six-year-old son from a vicious cougar attack near Princeton, British Columbia. Mrs. Parolin was horseback riding with three of her children when her youngest son was thrown by his frightened horse and attacked by the cougar. Mrs. Parolin jumped to the ground and provoked the cat with a stick, until it released her child. The enraged beast then pounced on her. As she wrestled with the animal, she ordered her children to take their injured brother and run for help. When rescuers arrived, over one hour later, they found her still alive in the underbrush where she had been dragged by the cougar. The animal was still crouched over her savagely mauled body. A man fired a shot in the air and unleashed his dog to scare the cougar off. The animal was then shot.