Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: April 29, 1985
• Invested on: December 06, 1985

The prompt action of François Guay, an employee of the Ville-Joie St-Dominique rehabilitation centre in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, saved a teenage girl from certain death on the night of 20 March 1984. The girl had been placed in a room of the Isolation Unit on her forced return after a ten-day unauthorized absence. Twenty-four hours later she set fire to her bedclothes using concealed matches, then cried for help. Walking down the corridor for a regular check on his charge, Mr. Guay saw smoke billowing from the door and without hesitation came into the Unit. Despite the seriousness and intensity of the fire he crawled on his hands and knees and entered the room. Mr. Guay dragged the semi-conscious girl through dense smoke to safety. She revived with artificial respiration.