Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: September 24, 1984
• Invested on: March 15, 1985

On the afternoon of 15 August 1983, Roy Symington saved a fourteen-year-old boy who had collapsed at the bottom of a cistern full of tar fumes. The boy was overcome after he had entered the underground reservoir on his parents' farm to tar the walls. His frantic mother telephoned Mr. Symington, a neighbour residing some distance away, and he hurried to her assistance. Well aware that the fumes in the enclosure created a grave risk to his own life, Mr. Symington climbed down the ladder without hesitation. Using all his strength, carrying the unconscious teenager over his shoulder, he struggled to the top of the ladder where other hands helped in passing the victim through the narrow exit. Once he had pulled himself out, Mr. Symington too was overcome and fell to the ground but recovered soon afterwards. The teenager survived the mishap.