Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: February 20, 1984
• Invested on: July 09, 1984

Tyendinaga Reserve Police Chief, Thomas Maracle saved a sixty-seven-year-old man from drowning in the Bay of Quinte on the afternoon of 16 February 1983. The man was fishing on the ice when he fell through, seventy-five metres from shore. From his nearby house, Chief of Police Maracle, then off duty, heard cries for help. He saw the man floundering in the water, breaking the ice with his elbows as he kept trying to pull himself out. Knowing that the surface was treacherous, and untrained in emergency rescue techniques, Chief Maracle crawled cautiously toward the victim on his hands and knees, using a sheet of plywood to distribute his weight. At the edge of the hole, he extended the board to the man. As the ice cracked all around them, Chief Maracle hauled him onto the board and, both lying on it, they inched their way back to safety.