Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: November 23, 1987
• Invested on: June 10, 1988

At 6:00 p.m., on August 9, 1985, Jean Santerre saved two people from drowning in the Chaudière River at Charny, Quebec. The two were making their way along the shore by jumping from rock to rock when the young woman, who did not know how to swim, lost her footing, fell into the fast- flowing water and was swept some twenty-five metres away by the current. One of her companions tried to help her but got into trouble as well. Mr. Santerre, who had witnessed the incident from a walkway over the falls and river, decided to try to help them despite the fact that he was in the process of recovering from a motorcycle accident. He ran to the end of the walkway, down the stairs, then down a steep slope and across a watercourse before reaching the river. Jumping in, he swam towards the victims, finding the woman unconscious, face-down in the water, and the man struggling to stay afloat. Mr. Santerre held the woman's head out of the water and helped the man to stay above the surface while swimming with the current for 180 metres in order to reach shore, where policemen and firemen, who had arrived in the meantime, took over.