Mr. Speaker, on December 20, 2000, Gary Merlin saved a six year old girl from a house fire in Surrey, B.C. Mr. Merlin was visiting friends when he was awakened by cries for help and the smell of smoke. Mr. Merlin and the friends' two older daughters exited the house. When they realized the six year old was missing, Mr. Merlin dashed back in the house and was struck by a fireball.
After running back out to extinguish the flames that had engulfed him, he re-entered the house and followed the little girl's cries through the dense smoke. He found the young victim in her bed hiding under covers. Although he wrapped the child and himself in quilts, both were seriously burned when the bedroom erupted into flames.
Disoriented, Mr. Merlin tried to retrace his steps back through the path to the front door but was blocked by fire. He rushed the girl into another room where he punched a double paned window with his forearm. Despite a deep cut on his wrist and forearm he then escaped the inferno by jumping out of the window holding the child tightly. Although severely burned, both Mr. Merlin and the child recovered.
Today, my constituent Gary Merlin was honoured with the decoration of bravery by the Governor General of Canada. I thank Gary for his amazing bravery. He is a fine Canadian.