Decorations for Bravery
Medal of Bravery
- Awarded on: April 28, 2011
- Invested on: February 24, 2012
Elaine Kathryne Spray, M.B. (posthumous)
Jakki Spray, M.B.
Medal of Bravery
On September 8, 2009, Elaine Spray and her daughter, Jakki, rescued Jakki's three children from their burning bungalow, near the Interlake community of Deerhorn, Manitoba. Early that morning, Jakki and her mother were awakened by a fire in the living room. Unable to reach the bedroom where two of her daughters were sleeping, Jakki returned to her own room, broke out the window and gently dropped her two-year-old daughter to the ground below. Jakki then crawled out, placed her daughter in her vehicle and ran back to the house. Meanwhile, her mother, Elaine, had successfully rescued the six-year-old, but collapsed from the thick, black smoke before she could reach her eldest granddaughter. Jakki climbed through the broken window and retrieved her unconscious daughter. Unable to lift her mother outside, Jakki then drove to a neighbour's house for help. Sadly, Elaine Spray succumbed to smoke inhalation and did not survive.