Star of Courage

• Awarded on: June 10, 1999
• Invested on: June 26, 2000

On January 14, 1998, Gojko Milisavljevic was severely injured while rescuing his two children from a fire that destroyed his family's home in Hamilton, Ontario. Awakened shortly after midnight by a raging fire, Mr. Milisavljevic raced through the blazing second-storey hallway to his son's bedroom while his wife went for help. He grabbed the nine-year-old boy, leaped through the wall of flames again, and managed to reach his screaming two-year-old daughter in another bedroom. With the flames closing in on him inside the room, he lowered his son from an open window and dropped him through the billowing smoke to the backyard below. He then let the toddler fall into his son's arms before jumping to safety himself.