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Saturday, September 13, 2003
The path of valour
By CP/Sun staff
The actions of 21 brave Canadians,
including those of a 10-year-old Shawville boy who risked his life in
an attempt to save a drowning toddler, were recognized yesterday.
Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson awarded the Governor General's
Medal of Bravery to citizens who risked their lives to save others at
her part-time residence at the Citadelle in Quebec City.
Paul Miron Jr. was on a beach by the Ottawa River in 2002 when a three-year-old girl was swept away by the current.
Miron, 10 at the time, retrieved the girl and pushed her limp body toward shore. The girl died despite his efforts.
"I was happy to get the medal," Miron said. "I went in the
water because the girl and her dad were were really close to our
family."
GRAVESITE MEMORIAL
Andrew Moffitt of Ottawa, who died from stab wounds in 1998
after helping a friend who was attacked in a bar, was also honoured.
A special gravesite memorial will be held tommorrow at 2:30
p.m. to present the Medal of Bravery at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in
Brockville.
In the solemn ceremony, Clarkson thanked the heroes for their sacrifice.
"You had the option of staying on the sidelines or putting
your self-interest and protection above everything else. That would
certainly have been the easier path to take." she said.
"You took the harder path, the path of valour and of life, of sacrifice."
Also hailed yesterday were the actions of Mohamed Chelali, who
helped break up an assassination attempt on French President Jacques
Chirac; Jeffrey Klymson of Toronto, who rescued his girlfriend, her
friend and a five-year-old boy from the Niagara River in 2001, Anthony
McNaughton of Vancouver, and David Elton of Calgary.
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