REGINA — The bravery of Saskatchewan citizens was at the forefront Friday when Lt.-Gov. Bernadette McIntyre presented Royal Canadian Humane Association (RCHA) Bravery Awards to noteworthy individuals.
McIntyre is the honorary patron of RCHA in Saskatchewan.
RCHA, established in 1894, recognizes deeds of heroism by Canadians, who, through their alertness, skill and concern, save or attempt to save a life, especially where those actions lie outside the ordinary duties of the person involved.
Those honoured at Friday’s ceremony at Government House spanned the gamut of trained officers to ordinary citizens who endangered their own lives in attempts to help others.
Person With a Grenade
Protective Services Officer Candice Nolin – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
Protective Services Officer Bryan Melnychuk – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
Protective Services Officer Amra Martin – RCHA Bronze Medal for Bravery
In Saskatoon, Feb. 14, 2022, just after midnight, Protective Services Officer (PSO) Candice Nolin was standing outside the doors of emergency at St. Paul’s Hospital, investigating a loud noise. An elderly man, who was carrying a bag, a cane and a water bottle, was causing the noise.
Nolin asked the man if he wanted a wheelchair and he immediately raised his voice louder and said, “You better help me.” Nolin tried to calm the man and again offered him a wheelchair. The man continued to complain loudly that he had not seen a doctor in three days. The man was making a scene and people in the emergency ward could hear him.
PSO Bryan Melnychuk heard what was going on and went to see if he could help. The man yelled at both officers, demanding that he be respected because he was in the military and was a veteran. Melnychuk continued to speak with the man, trying to calm him and indicated he too had served in the military. Melnychuk and Nolin continued to try to reason with the man and to calm him down, but to no avail.
The man then reached into his bag, commenting that he had something for the officers and pulled out a grenade. Nolin immediately grabbed the man’s arm and hand that was holding the grenade. Melnychuk grabbed onto the man as tightly as he could, taking him down to the ground just outside the emergency doors. Both Melynchuk and Nolin landed on top of the man, who was still resisting. He would not let go of the grenade, so Nolin put pressure on his arm, which resulted in the man finally letting go.
Nolin held onto the grenade tightly and passed it to Protective Services Officer Amra Martin, who had arrived to give additional assistance. The man was now restrained and was turned over to the Saskatoon Police Service, who had arrived quickly. Martin turned the grenade over to another city police officer, who informed all PSOs that the grenade was real.
Both Nolin and Melynchuk received injuries during the take down and were seen to by hospital staff.
Motor Vehicle Accident Fire Rescue
William Rodwin RCHA – Silver Medal for Bravery
Dexter Smith RCHA – Silver Medal for Bravery
Janna Smith RCHA – Honorary Testimonial
In the afternoon of Aug. 1, 2022, on Highway 16, just east of Guersney, Dexter Smith, driving with his mother, Janna Smith, and brother Austin, came upon a two-vehicle collision.
An SUV was lying on its side in the ditch, and the other vehicle was upright on the highway. The Smiths ran to the SUV, which was smoking. Janna called 911. The SUV driver was alive but trapped inside with the steering column pressing against his legs. The two occupants of the other vehicle were checked. The driver had no pulse, and the elderly woman was in pain but had no visible injuries. Suspecting neck and head injuries, she was not moved until EMS arrived.
William Rodwin was driving westbound on Highway 16 from Janzen mine back to Saskatoon when he too came across the collision. William noticed smoke coming from the SUV and then flames igniting. Being a volunteer firefighter, he knew that the driver from the SUV had to be extracted immediately as the fire was spreading quickly. The 911 operator gave permission to remove the driver. Working together, Dexter and William decided that the only way to get the driver out was through the sunroof. The glass was broken, allowing William to hold the driver by his shoulders. Dexter reached in through the broken windshield to unpin the driver’s trapped feet and legs. The fire was getting bigger and hotter, but Dexter managed to free the driver’s legs. He then went around and, together with William, pulled the driver out, away from the burning SUV to safety.
Shortly after that, the Lanigan Fire Department arrived to put the flames out. However, the SUV was completely engulfed and destroyed by fire. Dexter and William talked to calm the driver until the police and EMS arrived and took over dealing with the driver and the female passenger from the other vehicle. STARS Air Ambulance came on scene to transport the injured. Later, Dexter noticed that some of his clothing had been singed by the fire.
If it were not for the quick actions of those three people, the driver of that SUV would have perished in the fire.
Water Rescue – Last Mountain Lake
Sergeant David McClarty – RCHA Bronze Medal for Bravery
Constable Donna Davies – RCHA Bronze Medal for Bravery
Sergeant Jeffery Ball – RCHA Honorary Testimonial for Bravery
At approximately 1:30 p.m., on Aug. 15, 2023, at Last Mountain Lake, Regina RCMP responded to a call from a concerned mother who reported that her mentally ill son had stopped taking his medication, was delusional and had run away.
Police located her son and told him he was under arrest under the Mental Health Act. The man took off on foot, and the police gave chase, but unfortunately lost him.
The Police Dog Service was called to help in the search and officers canvassed the immediate area. At approximately 5 p.m., the man was spotted but disappeared down a trail. Sgt. David McClarty and his police service dog, “Hawk,” entered the trail. The man was located by Hawk in some bushes, but he took off, wading into the lake waist-deep. The man refused to listen to McClarty’s requests to come ashore and accept assistance. Instead, he continued out towards the boat launch at Regina Beach, swimming out towards the middle of the lake.
McClarty tied Hawk to a rock on shore and advised other officers to request firefighters and negotiators to attend. An onlooker from the yacht club came and drove the sergeant and another officer went out to the lake alongside where the man was swimming. Two more boats also joined with them, all trying to convince the man to get into a boat, but he would not listen.
One officer offered him a life jacket, which he took, but continued to swim towards the middle of the lake. The man abandoned the life jacket, and it was thought he was going to drown. The depth was between 30 to 40 feet. McClarty and Cst. Donna Davies removed their duty kits and jumped into the lake. They tried to lift the man into one of the boats; however, he still refused any help. He was not violent, but would not get into a boat.
The officers swam alongside the man for a while before returning to their boat and providing the man with another life jacket. He proceeded to swim across the lake and made it to the other side, where the water depth was about five feet. The man was still hallucinating, and he needed to be removed from the lake before he hurt himself or someone else.
The man was starting to move back into deeper water, so immediate action was needed. McClarty, on his boat, closed in, jumped off and landed in the water, grabbing onto the man. Sgt. Jeffery Ball and Davies jumped into the water and assisted in bringing the man into custody. He was dragged onto the shore. He had given up and appeared to be completely exhausted. Other members, who were on shore, waded into the water to assist in lifting him out. The man was turned over to EMS and later admitted to hospital.
House Fire Rescue
Constable Mitchell Peres – RCHA Gold Medal for Bravery
On July 14, 2024, at 3:35 a.m. Cst. Mitchell Peres was conducting a patrol in Ile- Ile-Ile-Ile-a-la-Crosse when he observed large flames shooting out the back of a residence from a dryer outlet. With thick, black smoke rapidly filling the house and the possibility of occupants trapped inside, Peres acted immediately and decisively. He called dispatch and requested that the local fire crew and EMS be notified.
The constable first attempted to alert the occupants by banging on doors and windows without success. He could see that the flames coming out of the dryer duct were quickly travelling up the length of the house towards the roof. After about 30 seconds, Peres observed thick, black smoke in the rear kitchen area of the home. He enlisted a neighbour, Rod Morin, to help by spraying water from a garden hose to hold back the fire temporarily.
Peres heard children screaming inside, so he broke the front door to get into the home, but was greeted by smoke. With severely limited visibility and intense heat, Peres found an unconscious adult female on the couch in the living room. He quickly awakened her and guided her out of the house. She was in a state of panic. The constable went back inside a second time, though the smoke and fire were getting more intense. He found two children in the hallway and took them outside to where the woman was.
With the fire now burning fiercely, and smoke making it impossible to breathe, Peres went back inside a third time and found two infants in a back bedroom asleep in a bed. Peres removed them from the house to safety.
He then went back into the house for a fourth time. Crouching low and trying to breathe through the smoke, with flames all over, he found another adult female. Once again, Peres assisted in getting this person outside. He then brought all the people across the street to safety away from the fire.
Peres performed first aid on all six people to make sure they were all breathing and inspected them for burns. Within seconds, the house collapsed and was lost due to the fire. Peres’ actions saved six lives, demonstrating exceptional bravery and selflessness by entering a burning structure four times with imminent risk to his own life.
Submerged Vehicle
Mark Dmyterko – Silver Medal for Bravery
Dana Ahenakew Andres RCHA – Silver Medal for Bravery
On Oct. 5, 2024, at about 5:30 p.m., on Highway 16 near Langham, Mark Dmyterko was driving home to Saskatoon when he was stopped by a frantic woman telling him that a car was in a slough and sinking. Mark ran down to the water’s edge to see what was happening.
Almost at the same time, Dana Ahenakew Andres and her cousin were heading towards Saskatoon when they too were flagged down by the woman waving her arms. They stopped and were told that a car had left the highway, driven through a ditch and into a slough. The car was sinking with the front down. Other people were standing on shore and Mark heard someone say that there was a person inside.
Dana immediately yelled at someone to call 911, removed her outer clothes and jumped into the slough. Mark jumped in as well and, due to the depth of the water, both had to swim to the car.
When they got to the car, they saw a person slumped over the steering wheel, unresponsive. The rear seats and trunk were still above water level. Dana and Mark tried to open the doors and banged on the windows to get the person inside to wake up, but to no avail. Dana swam back to shore, where her cousin had a wheel wrench and gave it to her to use to break a window.
Mark saw that the trunk had popped open, so he went to try and kick out the rear seat and get a response from inside. Dana swam to the car with the wrench and smashed open the rear window. The car quickly filled with water, making the rear and the trunk sink quickly. Mark and Dana were in danger of being taken down with the sinking car. The car was now fully submerged, and unfortunately, nothing more could be done. Police and EMS arrived, and the incident was now under their investigation.
Ice Rescue
Elaine Ratt – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
On Nov. 10, 2024, Elaine Ratt was working at the Sucker River Gas Bar, about 30 kilometres north of La Ronge on Highway 102. Around 11 a.m., Elaine was doing some light cleaning when a young boy, about 10 years old, ran up to the store in a panic. He told her that his friend had fallen through the ice on the river.
Elaine called 911, and followed the boy down to the riverbank. When she got to the top of the hill near the water, she could see another boy in the river. He was struggling to keep his head above the water, and it was clear he was in trouble. Elaine told the 911 operator exactly what she was seeing and told the other children to stay off the ice.
The boy was about six metres from shore. Elaine kept calling out to the boy, telling him to hold on and try to keep his head up, but she could see he was getting weaker. Elaine decided she had to try to get closer because by the time the emergency services arrived, it would be too late. They were about 20 minutes away. She started walking and then crawled out on her hands and knees as low as possible. But Elaine could hear the ice cracking beneath her. The ice was less than 2.5 centimetres thick.
When Elaine was about 1.5 metres away from him, she saw the boy stop moving and start to go under. She knew he was going into shock. She moved as fast as she could, and just as she got within reach, she fell through the ice too. But Elaine was able to grab the boy, lift him out of the water, and pat his back until he coughed and took a breath.
Elaine stayed calm and kept talking to the 911 operator. She found a rock under the water to stand on, which helped her lift him onto the ice. She told him to try rolling toward shore, and the boy managed to move a little but could not go any further. Elaine knew she had to get herself out next, but the ice kept breaking as she tried to get up. Eventually, she managed to get half her body up and got her leg on solid ice, then crawled toward the boy.
Once Elaine reached him, she was able to stand, pick him up, and carry him back toward the store. He told her he could not move or walk, so she carried him the whole way. As they got closer to the gas bar, an RCMP officer pulled up and asked if she had also been in the water. Elaine said she was okay and carried the boy inside.
Once they were in the store, Elaine took off the boy’s wet shoes and clothes. The RCMP asked if they had a blanket, but there was not one in the store. Elaine had one in her vehicle, so she got the blanket and wrapped the boy up and then waited for the ambulance to arrive.
Elaine’s quick and decisive action, while putting her life at risk, made this situation result in a successful outcome.
House Fire
Travis Hope – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
Volunteer Firefighter Travis Haughian – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
Volunteer Firefighter Jordan Martin – RCHA Silver Medal for Bravery
On Cypress Street in Maple Creek, around 4:30 a.m., on June 24, 2025, Travis and Kim
Hope were awoken by their neighbour’s house being on fire. The Hopes immediately went
over to investigate and saw that the back half of the house was aflame.
A woman, who lived on the main level of the house, was outside calling 911. Travis saw that a female had broken a basement window and was trying to get out. He grabbed a children’s scooter and used it to break that basement window, enlarging the hole. Travis then reached down, grabbed the woman by her hand, pulled her out and away from the burning house.
By the time Travis Hope was awakened by the fire, the Maple Creek Volunteer Fire Department had been dispatched and was notified that there was a possible entrapment in the house. When the fire crew pulled up to the scene, the roof was fully aflame, and the firefighters were told that a male was trapped in a bedroom on the main floor. The right side of the house, where the living room and kitchen were located, was also fully ablaze. Flames were coming out the front door and front picture window.
Firefighters Travis Haughian and Jordan Martin went through the front door and were greeted with flames coming through the ceiling and back walls. The firefighters did not see the victim, so they exited the house. They then broke bedroom windows to let the smoke dissipate so that they could search for the victim.
Firefighter Haughian could not see anyone due to heavy smoke and an orange glow coming through the back of the bedroom. The firemen entered again through the front door and began fighting the fire back. The entire house was on fire. The deceased was located in a far bedroom. The firemen continued to fight the fire and waited for EMS to attend.
