Four Nova Scotians were honoured for their heroic actions on Wednesday at the 2017 Medal of Bravery ceremony at Province House in Halifax.
The Medal of Bravery is awarded annually to people who have risked their life while protecting the life or property of someone else.
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“These acts of bravery remind us of the good in the world,” said Premier Stephen McNeil.
“The people being honoured today displayed selfless courage and chose the well-being of others over their own. Their bravery is an inspiration and we are deeply grateful for their actions.”
This year’s Medal of Bravery recipients are Shane and Liam Bernard, Eric Nickerson and Travis Wolfe.
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Travis Wolfe saved elderly woman from explosion, fire
On Feb. 14, 2016, Travis Wolfe was clearing snow from his grandparents driveway in Port Joli, N.S., when he heard an explosion and discovered that the neighbouring home was on fire.
Wolfe and his grandfather got into a truck and headed to the home where an elderly couple lived. However, the truck ended up getting stuck in the snow, so Wolfe continued on foot to the home.
Once there, Wolfe entered the house, which was engulfed in flames. Because the smoke was so thick, Wolfe had to feel his way through the home, eventually locating one of the two people inside.
He was able to carry the elderly woman out of the home and to safety.
“I don’t really consider myself a hero or nothing so it’s just overwhelming more than anything,” Wolfe said shortly after receiving the Medal of Bravery.
“My step-mother and my father were the residents of the home where the fire occurred,” said David Parker. “I’m the step-son of the survivor who would have liked to have been here today but just didn’t have the strength to make the trip.”
Parker believes Wolfe is a hero who has extreme courage, extreme compassion and “a quality that many of us probably don’t.”
“I don’t know how he did it to be honest, because he wouldn’t have been able to see,” said Parker. “He (Wolfe) had some lung damage as a result because of the smoke.”
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View a gallery of photos from the 2017 Medal of Bravery ceremony below:
Shane and Liam Bernard saved tourists from car crash, second time Shane has saved someone in need
Despite sharing the same last name, Liam and Shane Bernard are not related – but best friends.
On Sept. 16, 2016, the pair were driving along Highway 105 in Waycobah First Nation when they came across a motor vehicle accident involving tourists to the area.
Along with other good Samaritans, Liam and Shane helped a passenger in one of the vehicles get out of the vehicle, however the driver was pinned inside the vehicle, which was on fire.
Shane held onto Liam, who got into the vehicle and worked to free the drivers legs. The pair were able to successfully get the driver out of the vehicle just as it became engulfed in flames.
Liam was unable to accept his Medal of Bravery in person because he is currently in Alberta working. However, his daughter Nevada Francis and his son, Noland Bernard accepted on his behalf.
“Nothing was going through my mind, I just acted upon instinct,” Shane Bernard told Global News when recalling that fateful day.
“We just arrived there moments after the collision, smoke everywhere, shrapnel, plastic, people screaming chaos, just an unexpected event and we felt it was the right thing to do to rescue those two tourists that came from the United States.”
This wasn’t the first time Shane Bernard helped save someone in need. In July 2011, he saw two girls drowning in the undertow in Mira Gut, N.S.
Without thinking of his own safety, Shane swam out to get them and brought the girls to safety.
“I didn’t want to leave them, they were stranded,” he said. “They looked pretty scared, they were young, like my daughter’s size at the time.”
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Eric Nickerson saved man from capsizing boat in rough seas
On Nov. 19, 2016, Leading Seaman Eric Nickerson and his coworkers at the Canadian Coast Guard answered a distress call for a 32-foot sailboat that was taking on water in rough seas off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Weather conditions at the time were considered extreme – with strong winds and ocean swells over 30 feet high.
Once at the scene, the crew gave the lone sailor a survival suit but the man was unable to properly get it on. That’s when Nickerson boarded the sinking sailboat.
WATCH: Video from the Canadian Coast Guard shows day Eric Nickerson helped saved a sailor from his sinking vessel off the coast of Nova Scotia
The sailor’s survival suit would not zip up fully and he was thrown overboard by the waves as he was attempting to board a life raft.
With the sailor’s suit taking on water, Nickerson jumped into the ocean and helped keep the man calm and stable until he was able to be recovered from the sea.
“I’ve always kind of been, I guess you would call, an adrenaline junkie,” Nickerson told Global News.
“I take my job very serious,” he said.
“It’s a job where some days you’re doing nothing and some days you’ve got someone’s life in your hand, I like to think that when that day comes, I’m ready and up for the job.”
Nickerson has been involved with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard for more than twenty years.
“I have been on a lot of cases where I haven’t been fortunate enough to bring the loved one back to somebody alive. It’s not really something that you deal with easy and it’s something you have to live with. That day I wasn’t willing to do that.” said Nickerson.
READ MORE: 3 Nova Scotians awarded medals of bravery for courageous acts
To find out how to nominate someone for a Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery, you can visit http://www.novascotia.ca/bravery .
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