Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: March 18, 1985
• Invested on: September 27, 1985

Steven Yankulovski, M.B.
Kani Zekirovski, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On the evening of 25 February 1982, Steven Yankulovski and Kani Zekirovski combined efforts to save five people when fire gutted a two-storey house. Messrs. Yankulovski and Zekirovski were alerted by a neighbour that fire had broken out in a basement apartment across the street. They immediately ran over. Mr. Yankulovski entered the apartment and brought two children out - one after the other - but their frantic mother refused to follow him outside. The flames soon engulfed the stairs leading to the front door, thus preventing him from entering a third time. Undaunted, Mr. Yankulovski broke a window in spite of the intense heat and smoke pulled her through the small-opening. Meantime, Mr. Zekirovski, who had broken another basement window in an attempt to reach the woman, was knocked to the ground by an explosion. Still in a daze and his back hurting, he answered cries for help and urged a young couple to jump from their second-floor apartment, breaking their fall as they leaped to safety.