Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: August 8, 1983
• Invested on: December 09, 1983

Geneva May, M.B.
Dorothy Stillwell, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

At Port Colborne, Ontario, on the afternoon of 30 November 1981, Dorothy Stillwell and her daughter Geneva May, combined efforts to save the life of a three-year-old boy trapped in the living-room of a burning apartment. When a sudden explosion occurred in Mrs. May's kitchen she was thrown against the wall near an entrance door, through which she could have escaped unharmed. Hearing her young son crying in the next room, she ran through the flames and took the child in her arms, but fell to the floor, her clothes on fire. Meanwhile Mrs. Stillwell, occupying the apartment across the hall, became aware of the situation. She braved the heat and smoke until she found the two and, at the insistence of her daughter, first carried the child to safety. Mrs. Stillwell then re-entered, ripped away her daughter's burning clothing and led her outside. Mrs. May recovered from third degree burns.