Star of Courage

• Awarded on: May 12, 1980
• Invested on: September 26, 1980

On 11 March 1979, Police Cst. Raymond Pitre saved a five-year-old girl from drowning in the Rideau River at Vanier. She had been playing with another child on a ledge of ice extending into the river and had fallen in. Her companion ran home for help and the police were called to the scene. When Cst. Pitre arrived he saw the child some distance from shore being carried away by the current. He swam out to her, and though exhausted and numb from the cold, succeeded in bringing her to shore. She was taken to hospital in critical condition but recovered.