Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: February 28, 2000
• Invested on: December 08, 2000

Wallace Clarke, M.B.
Gerard Louvelle, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On the evening of November 21, 1998, Wallace Clarke and Gerard Louvelle saved a six-year-old girl from drowning in the Flora river near Labrador City, Newfoundland. Alerted that a family had fallen through the ice with their snowmobile, Mr. Clarke spotted the child in the water and tried to reach her with a rope. Seeing that she was unable to catch it, he crawled towards her but fell through and was pulled out by another rescuer. Meanwhile, volunteer firefighter Louvelle had been dispatched to the scene and he too fell through the ice attempting a rescue from the other side of the river. Breaking the ice as he went along, Mr. Louvelle managed to reach Mr. Clarke's rope and swam to the girl. With the child in his arms, he was pulled some 20 metres to shore by another rope tied around his waist. The bodies of the child's parents were later recovered by the authorities.