Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: September 24, 1973
• Invested on: November 30, 1973

In the early hours of September 26, 1972, fourteen-year-old John Maloney Jr. saved the lives of members of his family, minutes before fire destroyed their two-storey home in Toronto. Awakened by an unusual noise, young John Maloney detected smoke and went at once to waken his two sisters and a brother. He cautioned them to wait by an upstairs window from which he himself jumped to investigate. Flames prevented him from re-entering the house by the front door and he found the back door locked. Through the rear window he observed his father lying on the floor. Climbing in through a window he dragged the unconscious man out of the building. The youth then realized that another brother was asleep upstairs. Removing one of his father's heavy boots he hurled it at the window and the glass broke. He told the small boy to jump then ran once again to the front of the house where he found two of the other children who were already out and persuaded the last one to jump down. Several members of the family sustained injuries from which all recovered fully. Had it not been for John Maloney's cool-headed and persistent efforts the incident would undoubtedly have ended in tragedy.