Star of Courage

• Awarded on: June 13, 1988
• Invested on: August 19, 1988

On June 2, 1987, John Henry King drowned while saving the life of a little boy. The child had accompanied his father on a fishing trip to a boat launching site on the Red River near Selkirk, Manitoba, and was playing in the front seat of the station wagon while his father fished from the open tailgate. Suddenly the vehicle started to roll backwards into the river. As the boy's father frantically tried to open the doors on one side of the car, John King ran up and attempted to open the others. Both men, clinging to the vehicle, were carried into deep water. As the car sank the boy's father, a non-swimmer, floundered. After yelling to the boy to make his way to the back of the car, John King grabbed him from the open tailgate of the sinking vehicle and started to swim back to his aid. Totally exhausted, Mr. King passed the child to the other man moments before he slipped beneath the surface.