Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: July 15, 1985
• Invested on: March 21, 1986

Even in summer, water in Toronto Harbour is cold. It was only 16o on July 26, 1983, when a young woman was thrown overboard 500 metres off Leslie Street Spit. Abandoned without a life-jacket, she quickly tired in her effort to swim to shore. Ronald Collins, who had noticed her situation, stopped his car, ran to the shore and dove in. Reaching the victim before she sank, he supported her head and began the long swim back. Despite the numbing cold, he managed to reach the rocky shallows of the Spit, where he was helped by a friend. Without his selfless effort, the woman would almost surely have drowned.