Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: June 27, 2001
• Invested on: December 09, 2002

Sergeant Kenneth James Power, S.C., M.B., C.D.*
Sergeant Sylvain Joseph Roger Trudel, M.B., C.D.
Medal of Bravery

On October 3, 1999, Kenneth Power and Sylvain Trudel dived at night from a Hercules aircraft to rescue two men whose Cessna floatplane had crashed into a deep and narrow valley north of Havre St-Pierre, in Quebec. Equipped with night vision goggles, the Search and Rescue technicians located the plane upside down on the shore of a small wooded island surrounded by 600-metre cliffs. Fearing for the victims' lives and with the Labrador rescue helicopter some five hours away, Sgt Power and Sgt Trudel, then MCpl, elected to effect a risky flare-illuminated parachute descent into the rugged and mountainous terrain. Tossed around by the valley's high wind turbulence, they managed to clear the top of the cliffs and the trees and landed a short distance from the crash site. Sgts Power and Trudel then collected their medical gear and cared for the injured survivors until the rescue helicopter arrived to airlift them to safety, some two hours later.

*Sgt Power was previously awarded a Star of Courage for his rescue efforts during another incident