Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: January 19, 1981
• Invested on: March 09, 1981

On 24 September 1979, David Sangster rescued a man from the burning wreckage of a dump-truck carrying seventeen tons of gravel. The man had tried to avoid a dog on a road near Tillsonburg, Ontario, by swerving into the wrong lane of traffic and in doing so had forced Mr. Sangster's car off the road. Mr. Sangster saw the truck roll over several times before coming to rest in the ditch. The dump portion, having been raised in the accident, had forced the cab into the ditch and crushed the roof, so that there was no escape through the windows. Mr. Sangster ran to the wreck and found the driver semi-conscious, with fire just behind his seat. He reached through the broken windshield but could not move the man. But the latter fortunately revived and with Mr. Sangster's help crawled to safety just before the truck was consumed by fire.