Governor General announces the awarding of 19 Medals of Bravery
March 18, 2010
OTTAWA—Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, announced today the awarding of 19 Medals of Bravery. The recipients will be invited to receive their decorations at a ceremony to be held at a later date.
The Bravery Decorations were created in 1972, to recognize people who risked their lives to try to save or protect the lives of others. The Cross of Valour (C.V.) recognizes acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril; the Star of Courage (S.C.) recognizes acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril; and the Medal of Bravery (M.B.) recognizes acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.
A Celebration of Women is pleased to share with our Women and feature 1 Woman of the 19 recipients:
Samantha Larose, a Women of Bravery.
Doug Knill, M.B., Scotland, Ontario
Samantha-Joe Larose, M.B., Noëlleville, Ontario
Bruce Lavallee, M.B., Alban, Ontario
Daniel White, M.B., Paris, Ontario
Medal of Bravery
On February 2, 2008, Samantha-Joe Larose, Doug Knill, Bruce Lavallee and Daniel White rescued a man after his snowmobile had gone through the ice on Lake Nipissing, Ontario. Ms. Larose and a friend were returning from an ice-fishing trip when they lost sight of the marked trail and ended up in open water. Ms. Larose climbed back onto solid ice, but fell in three more times trying to pull her friend out. Although numbed by the cold, she managed to get out again and waved down Messrs. Knill, Lavallee and White. Working as a team, the men made their way to the hole and pulled the victim onto thicker ice. They then drove the man and Ms. Larose to a nearby house to wait for an ambulance.
FACT SHEET ON BRAVERY DECORATIONS
BACKGROUND
The Bravery Decorations were created in 1972. They recognize people who risk their lives and choose to defy their own instinct of survival to try to save a loved one or a perfect stranger whose life is in immediate danger.
The three levels of Decorations for Bravery reflect the degree to which the recipients put themselves at risk:
The Cross of Valour (C.V.) recognizes acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril.
The Star of Courage (S.C.), recognizes acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril.
The Medal of Bravery (M.B.), recognizes acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.
ELIGIBILITY AND NOMINATION
Anyone is free to propose the name of a person who has risked injury or death in an attempt to rescue another person. The incident need not have taken place in Canada, and the rescuer need not be Canadian, but Canadians or Canadian interests must be involved. The Decorations may be awarded posthumously.
Nominations must be made within two years of the incident, or within two years after a public entity, including a court, a quasi-judicial tribunal or a coroner, has concluded its review of the circumstances surrounding the incident or act of bravery.
