Medal of Bravery

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

Anastasia Jileen Sylliboy, M.B. (Posthumous)
Maxim Bernard Sylliboy, M.B. (Posthumous)
Tonia Elizabeth Sylliboy, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On July 15, 1999, Tonia Sylliboy, her father Maxim and his cousin's daughter Anastasia combined their efforts to save two boys, seven and eleven, who had been caught in the current of a channel at Castle Bay, on Bras d'Or Lake, Nova Scotia. When he heard the boys' screams, Max Sylliboy battled the turbulent waters until he reached the young victims, some 40 metres out. Seeing him struggle to keep the children afloat, nineteen-year-old Anastasia went to help and the panicked boys repeatedly pulled both rescuers under. A witness who was five months pregnant at the time, Tonia grabbed a float and made her way to the scene. Tonia saw both her father and Anastasia disappear under the surface but managed to reach one boy, then the other, and all three drifted to safety holding onto the floatation device.