Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: April 25, 1983
• Invested on: June 24, 1983

While motoring in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, in the early afternoon of 31 March 1981, William Watson noticed flames coming from the living-room of a house. He stopped his car and heard a teenaged girl calling for help from a second-floor bedroom window. Though urged repeatedly to jump out of the window, the girl was frozen in fear. Realizing that the fire was spreading quickly, Mr. Watson forced open the front door. In spite of a heart ailment which had compelled him to retire early, he rushed upstairs and, feeling blindly in the dense smoke, found the girl wandering aimlessly. Confused and frightened, she refused to leave but Mr. Watson persisted and led her to safety. Although fully prepared to re-enter the burning house, he ascertained from the victim that no one else was left inside.