Medal of Bravery

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

On the evening of 21 February 1983, Cst. Eric DeSerranno of the Haldimand-Norfolk Regional Police, also a member of the St. Williams Volunteer Fire Department, in Ontario, saved a man and his son from drowning at Long Point Bay, in Lake Erie. The fishermen had fallen through the ice on returning home after a day spent fishing. Several witnesses and two other members of the Fire Department attempted to rescue them but were unsuccessful. Knowing that the two fishermen would soon succumb to hypothermia, Cst. DeSerranno pushed his aluminum boat over the soft ice, repeatedly falling into the water. He manoeuvred through the cracks, following the sound of despairing cris in the dark, and found the floundering men. Using a tire tied to a rope, he dragged them near his boat and pulled them on board, although both his hands were numb with cold and his clothing frozen stiff. The overcrowded boat nearly capsized many times but Cst. DeSerranno, assisted by others, steered the victims toward shore and a waiting ambulance.