Star of Courage

• Awarded on: June 25, 1984
• Invested on: November 09, 1984

On the morning of 30 May 1983, John Marsh rescued an American tourist from certain death in the Niagara River. The woman and three friends were sightseeing at the Falls when she fell in and drifted towards the brink. One of her male companions entered the river to assist her but was forced by the swift current to abandon his efforts; another flagged down a municipal utility truck occupied by Mr. Marsh and two co-workers. With a rope tied around his waist, Mr. Marsh dove into the swirling waters and swam out to the woman. He grabbed her by the hair moments before she would have been sucked into the turbines of the nearby power plant or swept back into the main current and over the falls 150 metres away. His co-workers pulled them to a three-metre concrete wall where Mr. Marsh transferred the rope to the victim so that she could be hoisted to safety. Meanwhile, he clung precariously to a board bolted into the face of the retaining wall until the rope was returned to him and he in turn was pulled from the water.