Star of Courage

• Awarded on: April 5, 1988
• Invested on: June 10, 1988

On the night of October 9, 1986, an accident occurred between two cars on a highway near Stoney Creek, Ontario. One of the vehicles, a station wagon, flipped over the top of the other, landed on its roof on the shoulder of the road and burst into flames. Two men present at the scene, seeing the driver trapped inside, had tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the flames with dirt and a blanket and to pry the doors open using a truck bumper, by the time Cst. Raymond Rikic of the Hamilton- Wentworth Regional Police arrived. Using a fire extinguisher, he tried to put out the fire beginning in the passenger compartment before attempting to remove the man through the driver's side window, burning his hand severely in the process. At this time the entire passenger compartment of the vehicle burst into flames. Without a moment's hesitation, Cst. Rikic dove halfway into the car through the passenger window and, grabbing the severely injured and burned man, pulled him out with the help of the two men and carried him a safe distance away.