Kitchener woman receives Medal of Bravery for saving father and daughter from rip current in Lake Erie | CBC News
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A Kitchener, Ont., woman has been awarded a Medal of Bravery after she pulled a father and his 12-year-old daughter from Lake Erie after they were caught up in a rip current.
Katelynn Saengdala received her medal on Thursday from Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
Saengdala was in Port Colborne on Aug. 27, 2020, when she spotted a 39-year-old man and his daughter struggling in the water.
She swam out about 15 metres to reach them and grabbed each one by an arm and started to swim back to shore. About halfway back, she started to struggle but another man had spotted them and came out to help.
The father, who had swallowed water, was taken to a hospital. The daughter was treated on scene by paramedics.
Saengdala was recovering from a spinal fracture herself at the time. All three made full recoveries.
In 2022, Saengdala was also honoured with a Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honour for civilian heroism.