More awards were heaped upon three brave people last week.
Const. Darryl Ness of the Humboldt RCMP, former RCMP Const. Samantha McInnis, and civilian Ashton Ries of Humboldt were presented with awards for bravery from the Royal Canadian Humane Society (RCHS) by Lt.-Gov. Dr. Gordon L. Barnhart at a ceremony at Government House in Regina on October 24.
The purpose of RCHS is to recognize deserving Canadians for their acts of bravery. Barnhart as lieutenant-governor is the provincial patron of the awards.
Ness and McInnis received an Honorary Testimonial from the RCHS, while Ries received a bronze medal for bravery.
Ness and Ries were on hand to accept their awards, while McInnis' was accepted by her father, Inspector Jay McInnis of the RCMP in Prince Albert. Samantha McInnis is now a member of the Fredericton Police force.
This is the second set of awards this trio has received for an act of bravery in 2010. Last spring, all three were presented with commendations from the RCMP.
The awards all stem from an incident which occurred last October, when all three helped rescue a man from a car which was sinking into a slough.
On October 5, 2010 at 9:13 a.m., Humboldt RCMP received a report of an erratic driver on Hwy. 5 in Humboldt. Ness and McInnis both responded to the call. Ness was just seconds behind the vehicle as it hit the eastern outskirts of the city.
The car had travelled less than two kilometres outside the city when it left the highway and plunged into a slough on the south side of the road.
Ries, who had been in a vehicle passing by, stopped to help, and was already in the freezing water, trying to get the driver out of the sinking vehicle when Ness arrived. Between the two of them, they freed the man and swam him back to shore. McInnis arrived at the scene in time to help move him up the sloped shore.
The disoriented driver then indicated that there had been someone with him in the vehicle. McInnis then entered the water again, swam to the submerged car and searched it with her hands.
As it turned out, there was no one left in the vehicle.
The driver of the vehicle was later reported to be suffering from diabetic shock, which was the reason for his erratic driving and incoherence at the scene.
