Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: April 5, 1988
• Invested on: August 19, 1988

Late in the afternoon of January 19, 1987, two eleven-year-old girls walking a dog on the partially- frozen North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton broke through the melting ice into the extremely cold, fast-flowing water. Caught by the current they were separated, but both managed to reach the edge of the ice and hold on. Several persons were in the general area, had seen them fall through the ice and rushed to help. While two attempted to pull one girl out with the aid of a branch, three others, including Michael Rennich, reached the scene and went to the aid of the other. Mr. Rennich crawled the last twenty yards over the ice towards the victim, succeeded in pulling her from the water and passed her back the two men who were acting as a human chain behind him. Realizing at this point that the other girl was still in the river and was too cold to grab the proffered branch, Mr. Rennich crawled out onto the thin ice a second time. With the two rescuers who were already there acting as a second human chain, he managed to pull the freezing girl from the water and pass her back along the chain to safety.