One firefighter and five police officers including an OPP officer from Thessalon received Ontario’s top honour for bravery last night.
Among the five police officers to receive medals for bravery was Provincial Constable Jeff Lobsinger from the Thessalon Detachment.
Constable Lobsinger was honoured for an incident this year in the early spring regarding a failed attempt to rescue a snowmobiler who went through the ice near the shoreline on Gordon Lake.
Constable Lobsinger broke threw the ice several times in a floaters suit which takes on water in trying to rescue the man before finally being forced to abandon his attempts after reaching exhaustion and with ice vanishing underneath him.
The man would later to succumb to the effects of hypothermia after eventually being rescued as a result of being submerged in the icy water for two hours.
Despite the tragic outcome, Constable Lobsinger was honoured for knowingly placing his own life in grave danger in multiple attempts to make the rescue.