Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: September 24, 1984
• Invested on: March 15, 1985

On the evening of 20 January 1984, truck driver John Kriticos freed a nineteen-month old boy from the burning wreckage following a traffic accident. A man and a woman were travelling on Highway 401 with their son when a mechanical failure forced the driver to veer to the shoulder of the road. The car burst into flames moments after a rear-end collision, throwing the man and the woman onto the pavement. A witness, Mr. Kriticos, stopped his truck and ran towards the burning car. Seeing the child on the back seat, he opened the passenger door, stretched his head and shoulders near the scorching flames and unfastened the straps pinning the boy to his safety seat. He seized the child and carried him away. Clearly, the young victim owes his life to the brave action of Mr. Kriticos.