Biography

His citation reads:

On 29 December 1977, Thomas Hynes, aged nineteen, gave his life while saving his eight-year-old cousin, from drowning. The child and another boy had run out on a frozen pond and fallen through the ice. The other lad pulled himself out from fifteen feet of water, but Thomas' cousin was floundering and made no headway. When Thomas saw this, he entered the water with no regard for his own safety and kept pushing the boy onto the ice. The victim was thus able to reach for a stick extended to him by another youth and was pulled to safety. Thomas by this time was exhausted from supporting his cousin, and though he struggled to stay afloat, he slipped under and was drowned.

Sources

• Governor General of Canada site