2025 Rescue and Honour Awards

RESCUE AND HONOUR AWARDS

 

July 10th, 2025, Winnipeg, MB – Nine Manitobans are being recognized for their quick thinking and skillful responses in coming to the aid of people, many of whom they did not even know. The Lifesaving Society, Canada’s drowning prevention experts for more than 110 years, together with The Honourable Anita R. Neville, P.C.., O.M., Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba are paying tribute at the Rescue and Honour Awards Ceremony at Government House.

Drowning remains the third-leading cause of unintended death in Manitoba. It is for this reason that the Royal Life Saving Society, an organization of the Commonwealth annually recognizes and honours those who either with or without formal training, demonstrated extraordinary compassion for their fellow Manitobans with their responses.

Rescue Commendation Award

Recognizes individuals who acted with resourcefulness and courage to aid an individual in distress in a water related rescue:

Christian Clavelle, Braden Hicks, Corbin Manz, Jason Murdock, Amanda Prechuk, Christophe Savard, Dylan Stark, Colin Stark, Brian Theriault

“Whomsoever you see in distress, recognize in them a fellow human being.”

 

Rescue Synopsizes:

1. Jason Murdoch and Brian Theriault

Incident: Over the weekend of May 10^th to 12^th, 2024 Jason and Brian were camping at Meditation Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park.  Both are experienced kayakers/canoeists but decided against breaking camp Sunday morning as the high wind made conditions on the water treacherous.   Sunday evening Jason and Brian spotted a woman on the shoreline who was clearly in distress.  They hiked to the location where they found the woman suffering from hypothermia.  They covered the woman in coats and other gear keeping her awake and as warm as possible. Jason ran back to the camp to call 911 and ran back to the site with more blankets and sleeping bags.  Both used their body heat to keep the woman warm as it was getting dark and the temperature was dipping below zero.  The RCMP arrived, evacuated the woman, and found the body of her husband who had died.  Mike Garton of the Stonewall RCMP says if it wasn’t for the actions of Jason and Brian the woman likely would have died as well.

2. Colin Stark, Cst. Dylan Stark, Cst. Christophe Savard

Incident: On August 2^nd, 2024, The Pas RCMP received a report that a boater was stranded with his wife, infant son, and two dogs on Clearwater Lake.  The boat’s power and propulsion had failed.  The boaters from Mitchell were stranded for three hours and were adrift with no daylight left.  Conditions were deteriorating as the wind was picking up, producing strong waves.  When the RCMP officers hit the water, they encountered three-to-four-foot waves.  They spotted a blinking light and found the missing boaters about two kilometers from shore near Camper’s Grove boat launch.  The boat was dangerously close to a reef.  The rescue team worked quickly to maneuver around the reef.  The boat was secured and towed back to shore. There were no injuries.    As a further note, Sgt. Stark and Cst. Stark are father and son. Cst. Dylan Stark had just graduated from the RCMP Academy that week and was travelling to his new post in Thompson when he stopped in The Pas that night to visit his father.

3. Christian Clavelle, Braden Hicks and Corbin Manz

Incident: On August 3^rd, 2024, a 3-year-old boy had wandered from the beach at St. Malo Provincial Park into the water where he became unresponsive.  His limp body was found by Christian Clavelle.  Christian performed CPR before Park Enforcement Officers were flagged down and helped with incident response.  Christian is a First Aid Instructor and successfully revived the child who started to breathe again.  The boy was taken to the closest health centre by EMS personnel who later commented Christian saved the child’s life.  Patrol Officers Braden Hicks and Corbin Manz contacted 911, conducted crowd control, and guided EMS to the location.

4. Amanda Preachuk

Incident: On September 29^th, 2024, Amanda Preachuk (or Mandy) was sitting at a campsite at Steep Rock Beach when she noticed a child out in the water on a paddleboard.  The child was not wearing a lifejacket and was being carried by waves out into the lake.  Mandy grabbed her paddleboard and two lifejackets and headed out towards the girl while alerting others to the situation. A man on the beach started to swim out but returned to the beach when he realized he wasn’t going to make it. Mandy reached the girl, pulled her onto her board and put her in a lifejacket.  They started for shore but were almost knocked off the board by rough water.  When they got close others waded into the water to help.  The girl’s mother and grandmother were at the scene to thank Mandy.