Decorations for Bravery Ceremony

The Governor General presented two Stars of Courage and 42 Medals of Bravery during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, on October 28, 2011.

On March 20, 2005, Angela Stirk courageously attempted to stop a man who was attacking her father with a knife, in their home in Coboconk, Ontario. At approximately 3 a.m., the doorbell rang, waking Ms. Stirk. She answered the door just as her father was coming down the stairs. It was a well-known neighbour who asked to speak with her father. Ms. Stirk went back to bed, but was startled shortly afterward by her father’s cries for help. The man at the door had stabbed her father several times. When the victim stumbled down the basement stairs followed by the assailant, Ms. Stirk placed herself in front of her father, blocking the assailant’s jabs and receiving several cuts to her hands in the struggle. Unable to depend on her strength against the much larger attacker, she pleaded with him to stop and promised not to tell anyone if he left. The assailant left the house and was later apprehended by police. Sadly, Ms. Stirk’s father did not survive.

On February 15, 2009, volunteer firefighter Darryl Boone rescued two men whose ATVs had broken through the ice of the Mira River, in Marion Bridge, Nova Scotia. When Mr. Boone received the emergency call on his pager, he immediately made his way to the scene, where he assessed the situation and directed other firefighters to prepare the ice rescue equipment. As time was of the essence in the approaching darkness, he pulled a canoe up to the edge of the hole and jumped into the freezing water to assist the victims, who were clinging to their floating ATVs. The men were suffering from hypothermia and had difficulty breathing in the -17°C winds. Mr. Boone helped the first victim up onto the ice and then pulled the second man up, who was unable to move his limbs in his wet clothing. Once the victims were safely in the canoe, the other firefighters pulled it in to shore. Both victims were brought to hospital and survived the ordeal.

On August 19, 2008, Don Harper and Jewel Denison tried to rescue a young boy from drowning, in Kingston, Ontario. Mr. Harper was at the beach with a friend and three of her grandchildren, when one of the boys was carried away by the fast current. Mr. Harper rushed into the water, but had difficulty locating the boy who was constantly being knocked over by the large waves. Mr. Harper tried several times to reach the boy, but was pulled under himself by the strong current. Alerted to the incident, Ms. Denison jumped in the water and, with great difficulty, swam out to the boy, grabbed him and made her way back to shore. Despite being completely exhausted, Ms. Denison then tried to resuscitate the child. Meanwhile, Mr. Harper became trapped in the undertow, unable to escape its strong pull. Sadly, neither Mr. Harper nor the six-year-old boy survived. The decoration awarded to the late Mr. Harper will be presented at a later date.

On April 11, 2009, Patrick O’Connor was instrumental in the rescue of a man and a 14-year-old boy in the Gulf of Mexico. Strong winds prompted warnings to stay out of the water. The victims had been kayaking when a large wave capsized their craft, throwing them overboard. The boy, who had swallowed large amounts of water, started to panic. Mr. O’Connor was on the beach when he noticed a crowd pointing towards the victims, who were approximately 100 metres from shore. Mr. O’Connor and another man fought against the strong undertow and high waves to bring the drifting kayak back to the victims. They placed the unconscious boy in it and the three men then pushed the kayak to shore. Sadly, the boy did not survive.

On December 2, 2007, off-duty firefighter Steven Reynolds was injured trying to disarm a distraught woman wielding a sword, at a gas station in Milton, Ontario. Mr. Reynolds had just pulled up in his vehicle, when he heard a young woman calling for help. Realizing she was armed with a sword, Mr. Reynolds calmly asked the woman to put the weapon down. She quickly became aggressive and began yelling at him. Mr. Reynolds ran inside the station and held the doors closed while the aggressor used the sword to break the glass doors. The woman then walked up to an unoccupied vehicle and smashed out the windows, while Mr. Reynolds spoke with a 911 dispatcher. The woman returned to the station and walked inside barefoot. Sword still in hand, she approached the attendant at the counter, seemingly unaware that Mr. Reynolds was coming up behind her. She spun around and sliced his arm. Despite the deep wound, Mr. Reynolds was able to pin the violent, struggling woman against the counter. Two attendants then helped to restrain her as Mr. Reynolds, weak and drenched in blood, fell to the floor. The police quickly arrived to arrest the woman and see to Mr. Reynolds’ wounds.

On December 11, 2007, 10-year-old Pazia Toyne risked her life to rescue a five-year-old girl who had fallen through the ice, in High River, Alberta. Miss Toyne, along with several other children, had been on the ice while walking home from school when one of the girls got too close to a hole. The ice broke and the girl fell in the water. Miss Toyne heard the cries for help, and without any concern for her own safety, ran towards the hole, sliding on her stomach to reach the victim. The water was up to the girl’s neck and she was clinging to a piece of ice. As she tried to pull the victim out, Miss Toyne also fell into the water. After much effort, she managed to get back onto thicker ice and drag the other girl to safety.