{"id":61720,"date":"2026-01-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=61720"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:00:00","slug":"lower-sackville-man-among-medal-of-bravery-recipients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=61720","title":{"rendered":"Lower Sackville man among Medal of Bravery recipients"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HALIFAX:<\/strong> Four deserving Nova Scotians were awarded the province\u2019s highest recognition for bravery at a ceremony January 15, in Halifax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premier Tim Houston awarded the Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery to:
– Gerrid Hunt, Lower Sackville
– Richard MacPhee, Boularderie, Cape Breton Regional Municipality
– Ryan O\u2019Shea, Sydney
– Scott Rafuse, Sydney.

\u201cThe Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery recognizes extraordinary courage and heroism and that is what our four honourees have demonstrated,\u201d said Premier Houston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn behalf of all Nova Scotians, I am honoured to recognize and thank them.\u201d

The medal is awarded to Nova Scotians \u2013 civilians and emergency responders \u2013 who have risked their lives protecting the lives or property of others, beyond what is expected of them.<\/p>\n\n\n

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(Province of Nova Scotia photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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About the recipients and their acts of bravery:

– On January 11, 2025, Gerrid Hunt was alerted by his daughter that their neighbour\u2019s home was on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Mr. Hunt learned that a man and three children were still inside, he entered the smoke-filled home on his hands and knees, feeling around until he found an unconscious man who he was able to drag to safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man, his wife and a young child survived; tragically, three other children did not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hunt family also lost their home in the blaze.

– On February 14, 2025, Richard MacPhee, Ryan O\u2019Shea and Scott Rafuse learned that two fellow snowmobilers had not returned from a trip in the Cape Breton Highlands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With conditions deteriorating and knowing the trails, they decided to search that evening. They found one of the men after a difficult search and assisted him until he was able to get to safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They later joined the major search-and-rescue operation that was underway and helped find the other man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Quotes:
<\/strong>\u201cI applaud these brave Nova Scotians who, without hesitation, risked their own lives to protect the lives of their friends and neighbours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is an honour to recognize them through the Medal of Bravery.\u201d\u00a0
\u2014 Scott Armstrong, Attorney General and Minister of Justice

<\/em>Quick Facts:
<\/strong>– this was the 15th provincial ceremony recognizing people who have risked their own lives to help others
– since 2008, 59 brave Nova Scotians, including today\u2019s recipients, have received the award <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HALIFAX: Four deserving Nova Scotians were awarded the province\u2019s highest recognition for bravery at a ceremony January 15, in Halifax. Premier Tim Houston awarded the Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery to:– Gerrid Hunt, Lower Sackville– Richard MacPhee, Boularderie, Cape Breton Regional Municipality– Ryan O\u2019Shea, Sydney– Scott Rafuse, Sydney. \u201cThe Nova Scotia Medal of Bravery recognizes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[1580,50,13,10114,48,2517,7550,4915],"class_list":["post-61720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cape-breton","tag-halifax","tag-lower-sackville","tag-medal-of-bravery-award","tag-n-s","tag-premier-tim-houston","tag-scott-armstrong","tag-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}