Medal of Bravery
Awarded on: 1974-02-25
Invested on: 1975-02-14
Wallace Conrad, M.B., Oshawa, Ont.
James Edwin O'Boyle, M.B., Oshawa, Ont.
Medal of Bravery
Through the efforts of Wallace Conrad and James O'Boyle, a two-year-old boy was saved from a fire which claimed the lives of his two older brothers at their home in Oshawa, on January 5, 1972. Fire broke out in the basement of the home where the children were cleaning a mini-bike with gasoline. The youngest, his clothing aflame, ran upstairs. In a panic, the mother rushed from the house screaming for help. A passer-by, James O'Boyle, dashed in, found the child and beat out the flames. Finding the front door locked, he struggled to get it opened but was overcome by smoke. A neighbour, Wallace Conrad, responding to the mother's cry for help, broke open the front door but was driven back by smoke and heat. Returning, he dragged Mr. O'Boyle from the house and went back to find the little boy. After bringing the child out, Mr. Conrad again went in along with another neighbour to search through the main floor. They failed to discover the other children who had shut themselves in a basement bedroom.