Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
River rescue results in bravery medal
Risked life to save snowmobiler
Winifred Lindsay: rescued (MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
Harry Prymak will be in Ottawa Thursday to receive a Medal of Bravery from Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
THREE years after he plunged into a freezing river to save a man's life, Harry Prymak is being honoured by the country's highest office.
On Thursday, Prymak will join six other Manitobans in Ottawa, where Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean will present them with Medals of Bravery for their heroism.
In March 2007, Prymak and seven friends were ice fishing near Lac du Bonnet when a woman's scream pierced the air: A snowmobiler had crashed through the softening ice.
"I just caught it out of the corner of my eye. I saw him go underwater," said Prymak, who lives in the RM of St. Clements. "So I grabbed a fishing rod, the other guys went for ropes, and I crawled over on my belly... and had him three-quarters of the way out."
The rescue turned dicey when the ice broke, plunging Prymak into the frigid river. By that time, friends Shaun Harper, Wayne Kuczek and Gerry Kuczek had arrived, and together the crew hauled the snowmobiler to safety.
With Harper now living in Vancouver, Prymak said the highlight of the Thursday ceremony will be a chance for the quartet to reunite. "It's kind of a get-together for us," Prymak said. "Beyond that, we're not expecting anything."
Jean will present one Star of Courage and 46 Medals of Bravery during a ceremony Thursday morning at Rideau Hall.
Other Manitoba recipients of the Medal of Bravery are:
"ö Transit driver Jerry Beernaerts, who jumped out of his bus and helped rescue Winifred Lindsay, whose motorized scooter had overturned on railway tracks with a train coming;
"ö RCMP Cpl. James Allan Munro, of Dauphin, who rescued a man from an apartment fire in Flin Flon in June 2005; and
"ö Mst. Cpl. Jonas Denechezhe and Clifford Tssessaze, of Lac Brochet, who helped save a woman and her two-year-old son from a house fire in that community in October 2006.
melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 3, 2010 A7
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