Star of Courage

• Awarded on: August 31, 1993
• Invested on: December 06, 1993

Near midnight on December 12, 1992, Cst. Smith attempted to save two people whose snowmobile had broken through the ice of a sewage lagoon in Regina, Saskatchewan. Despite the health hazard and hampered by dense ice fog, Cst. Smith began crawling across the thin ice in the direction of cries for help. Reaching open water, he saw one of the victims and repeatedly threw a rope, trying to lasso the now unconscious individual. With each attempt, the ice ledge sank deeper into the frigid water, forcing sewage up and soaking the constable. In a final attempt he fell into the chemically-treated waste but was pulled out by a firefighter. After being on the ice in sub-zero temperatures for one- and-a-half hours and suffering from hypothermia, Cst. Smith was pulled off the ice by firefighters and taken to hospital. Police divers later recovered the bodies of the victims.