In this day and age, its good to know that people like these still exist...

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FROM CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — Const. Stephen Knight was out for a stroll with his wife and some friends last Jan. 24 when they happened upon two men attacking another man in a laneway in St. John's, Nfld.

Unarmed, the off-duty member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary ran to the scene, identified himself as a police officer and intervened.

Although one assailant stabbed him in the back and slashed his hand, Knight subdued the attacker and restrained him until other police arrived.

For his actions, Knight will receive the Medal of Bravery, the office of Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson announced today.

Thirteen others will receive bravery awards, three of them posthumously:

— Sebastian Donnelly of Winnipeg died Nov. 1, 2003, while trying to rescue a friend from drowning after their canoe overturned in Lake of the Woods, Ont.

— Frank Supernak, a winemaker from Osoyoos, B.C., died Nov. 10, 2002, in an attempt to save a co-worker who had accidentally fallen into a wine fermentation tank in Oliver, B.C. Both were overcome by carbon dioxide.

— Melanie Warner-Cain of Cornwall, Ont., died Oct. 4, 2002, while trying to prevent a man from leaving the scene of a hit-and-run. She was pulled under the vehicle and dragged.

— Lori Abbott of Regina rescued an 11-year-old boy trapped between two sheets of shifting ice on the Qu'Appelle River, in Lumsden, Sask., on April 4, 2004. Abbott waded through frigid waters to reach the boy.

— Patrice Bernier of Sainte-Julie, Que., risked his life Jan. 22, 2004, to rescue a friend from drowning after ice broke under the weight of his snowmobile on the Richelieu River, near St-Charles, Que.

— Michel Gauthier of Blainville, Que., and Claude Lesage of Pointe-Claire, Que., rescued a man from a burning boat following an explosion at Dorval marina in Montreal on June 14, 2003.

— Elie Gilbert of St-Frederic, Que., saved a man from a fiery death after a semi-trailer collided head-on with a pickup and erupted into a fireball in La Verendrye Park, Que., on May 29, 2004.

— Military Capt. Bruce Gundling of Winnipeg risked his life to prevent a suicidal woman from jumping into the Rideau River Falls in Ottawa on March 27, 2004. He leaped two barriers and a concrete wall before subduing the frantic woman.

— Jeffrey Hawkins of Swan River, Man., Renny Kafka of Portage La Prairie, Man., and Mary Lucille Knight of Laurier, Man., saved lives after entering a burning boarding house for people with special needs in Laurier several times on July 29, 2001.

— Gordon Ihlen of Merritt, B.C., defended a woman who was being stabbed in Castelgar, B.C., on Oct. 25, 2003. Ihlen tackled the assailant, then placed himself between the two until help arrived.

The Decorations for Bravery were established in 1972 as part of the Canadian Honours System.

The Cross of Valour is awarded for acts of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme peril. The Star of Courage is awarded for acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril. The Medal of Bravery is awarded for acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.

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