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Mr. Robert Barry Hynes

Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador

Decorations for Bravery

  • Medal of Bravery

    Awarded on: 1978-05-19
    Invested on: 1979-03-09
    Robert Hynes rescued a two-year-old boy and his younger brother from a fire which destroyed their home in Port Rexton, Newfoundland, on 8 March 1977. Mr. Hynes saw the panic-stricken mother who told him that her two-year-old was in the kitchen. He rushed in but at first failed to find the child because of thick smoke, but after retreating a number of times he effected the rescue helped by the mother. Mr. Hynes revived the child by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, then learned that the other boy was in a crib on the second floor. By this time others had arrived on the scene and were trying to reach the infant with a ladder, but they were driven back by the intense heat. Robert Hynes climbed the ladder and, with his body half through the window, pulled the crib towards him. The heat forced him to withdraw from the window a number of times, and it was only after he had protected his face with a blanket that he managed to grasp the child. The baby was brought to the ground and was also revived by Mr. Hynes.