While the world reels following the horrific events in Brussels on Tuesday, there was news of a different kind in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced that seven Canadians are among 24 North Americans awarded the Carnegie Medal in recognition of their acts of civilian heroism.
The Canadians honoured are Adam James Tarnowski, 31, of Onoway, Alta., who helped rescue a man from a crashed and burning truck in Stony Plain, Alta., in July 2014.
John W. Gallie, 28, of Toronto and Craig Alexander Morash, 43, of Goodwood, N.S., are being recognized for rescuing several people from a burning home in Glace Bay, N.S., in May 2014.
Two Halifax residents, Stephen Ross, 57, and Keiren J. Tompkins, 59, are being honoured for rescuing a man who fell through ice in Baddeck, N.S., in January 2014.
Patrick Smith, 44, of Pembroke, Ont., receives a medal for rescuing a man from drowning in the Ottawa River in July 2013.
The seventh Canadian on the list is Daniel Patrick Greene, 54, of Uxbridge, Ont., who rescued a man who fell through ice while driving an all-terrain vehicle on Buckhorn Lake in Trent Lakes, Ont., in January 2015.
The medal is given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
The Carnegie Commission is named for steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
It awards medals and cash several times a year and has given away $38 million to 9,845 awardees or their families since 1904.
With files from The Canadian Press, the Associated Press and CBC News
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