Star of Courage

• Awarded on: August 24, 1972
• Invested on: June 08, 1973

James Davidson Hay, S.C.
Star of Courage

On June 28, 1968, the Hay family was picnicking in the countryside together with other family from Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Shortly after the meal the other family's four-year-old child wandered onto the railway bridge which crosses Basalt Creek. Hearing a train approaching and seeing the child mid-way across the bridge, James Davidson Hay sprinted along the tracks just ahead of the oncoming locomotive. As Mr. Hay reached the child and pulled her from the path of the train, he was struck by the side of the locomotive and thrown into the ravine between the railway bridge and the adjoining highway bridge. Mr. Hay sustained a severe injury to one of his legs. Had it not been for his prompt and courageous action the child would almost certainly have lost her life.