Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: April 21, 1987
• Invested on: June 26, 1987

Mid-afternoon on 25 August 1985, James Allard freed himself from his overturned aircraft submerged in the Fraser River in New Westminster, British Columbia and crawled up onto the wing strut. After a few seconds, when his passenger failed to surface, Mr. Allard dove into the murky water and made his way back into the plane, which was filling up with water. He released the passenger's seatbelt, struggled to pull him from the craft and managed to place him onto the wing strut. Mr. Allard waved to a nearby pleasure craft which came alongside and took the victim ashore for medical treatment. Mr. Allard remained with the plane and was, shortly thereafter, picked up and taken to shore. Later investigation revealed the victim had passed away before the landing, pushing the steering column forward and causing the plane to crash.