Meritorious Service Medal

• Awarded on: January 14, 1993
• Invested on: February 12, 1993

On 3 August 1989, on the Yoho River in British Columbia, a student on the Mountain Operations Instructors Course was pulled underwater by the current and lost consciousness. Master Corporal Fournier jumped into the river and attempted to pull him out, but the swift current and combined weight of the victim and his rucksack proved too difficult. The safety line to which both were attached was cut to enable Fournier to lift the student's head above water, allowing the current to sweep both downstream. The victim floated free from Fournier's grasp but was pulled to safety by witnesses on the river bank. Master Corporal Fournier, still in danger, was carried swiftly downstream but managed to grasp a boulder and work his way to safety. Then, accompanied by two other instructors, he ran approximately ten kilometres through the forest to come within radio range of the Park Rescue Service, who dispatched a rescue helicopter to the scene.