Star of Courage

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

On 6 December 1979, Mrs. Sharon O'Brien saved her four-year-old son from drowning in the St. John River. With his friend, Mrs. O'Brien's son was playing in a rowboat when it was cast adrift by a high wind. Some hundred and fifty feet from shore the boys panicked and leapt into the icy water. Alerted to the danger by an elder son, Mrs. O'Brien telephoned for help, ran to the river's edge and swam out to the children. She was not, however, able to reach her son's friend before he drowned but brought her boy in. He was taken to hospital and recovered from his ordeal.