2 N.S. rescuers awarded bravery medals
Gillian Irene MacAulay, from Trenton, and Chris MacLeod, from Sydney, each received a Medal of Bravery in Ottawa on Friday. They were among 50 recipients who received medals from Gov. Gen. David Johnston.
MacAulay was at Melmerby Beach in Pictou County on Aug. 10, 2007, when two girls got caught in a strong undertow and started to panic.
She heard one of the girl's cries for help and immediately swam out in the pounding waves to get her. After fighting the waves for 20 minutes, MacAulay got the first girl back to shore.
She then went back to rescue the second girl.
MacLeod was making a delivery in Eskasoni when he rescued a six-year-old boy who fell through the ice on Jan. 24, 2008.
While his co-worker radioed for help, MacLeod waded through the freezing water and broke the ice with his fists to reach the boy. He put the boy on his shoulders and the two made it safely back to shore.
- Round silver medal.
- Recognizes acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.
MacLeod shrugged off any suggestion that he was a hero.
"I just feel like I did what needed to be done. It was just a young boy in need of some help," he told CBC News at the time.
Second award for family
For the MacAulay family, the day was bittersweet.
"The young fellow was in the water and he was yelling for help and my son dropped his bike and ran down to try and help him," said Joan MacAulay, Christopher's mother.
Both boys ended up going underwater. Christopher was rescued, but remained in a coma for five days before he died.
In 1991, Joan MacAulay travelled to Ottawa to receive Christopher's Medal of Bravery posthumously. She said she doesn't remember much from that day.
After Friday's ceremony, she said it was a good day, but at times difficult.
"Unsettling but settling. I'm so proud of her," MacAulay said as she looked toward her daughter.
Gillian said she wasn't thinking about what happened to her brother when she rescued the girls.
"There was no hesitation," she said after the ceremony. "I would like to think that anyone that would hear the distressed calls of a child would like to help them as well."