Sébastien Gilbert, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
On November 13, 2008, Sébastien Gilbert risked his life to rescue a co-worker who was trapped in a silo at a concrete-mixing plant, in Saint-Eustache, Quebec. The man had been standing on the sand at the top of the silo, making repairs to machinery, when the doors at the bottom accidentally opened up and sucked him underneath. At the control panel, Mr. Gilbert stopped the operation, ran to the top of the silo and descended into the dark. Using his hands and his hard hat, he shovelled sand away from the victim to get his head uncovered. Mr. Gilbert called for help as the sand beneath them was unstable and more was continually falling on top of them. Firefighters arrived and got Mr. Gilbert out. After several hours, they also managed to free the victim.