Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: February 26, 2002
• Invested on: December 09, 2002

Brian Walter Thompson, M.B.
Roy James Wolker, M.B.

On August 22, 1999, Brian Thompson and Roy James Wolker risked their lives to help victims of a head-on collision that set a motor-home and a minivan on fire on the Trans-Canada Highway near Grand Falls, New Brunswick. First at the scene, Mr. Thompson stood on the rear bumper of the minivan, reached through the shattered window to unfasten the nearest child's seat belt then passed the three-year-old girl to waiting hands. He then attempted to free her two-year-old sister but whipping flames burned his face and arms, forcing him to retreat. Undeterred, he reached back in and managed to pull the toddler out moments before the motor-home's propane tanks exploded and both vehicles went up into a fire ball. Meanwhile, Mr. Wolker had rushed toward a woman who had been ejected from the minivan and lay on the pavement between the flaming wrecks. Through intense smoke and flames, he dashed to her side and dragged her away from danger, suffering burns to his arm in the process. Tragically, the woman, her infant daughter and the couple in the motor home did not survive.