Daniel William Bailey

Daniel William Bailey helped to rescue Catherine A. Moffat and Andrea L. Higgins from burning, Central Elgin, Ontario, August 1, 2006. Badly injured, Moffat, 37, and Higgins, 38, remained strapped in their seats after the sport utility vehicle in which they were traveling overturned in a highway accident and caught fire at its front end. At a nearby residence, Bailey, 43, off-duty police officer, heard the accident and ran to the scene. He attempted to free Higgins from the wreckage but found that she was pinned by it. Bailey then approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, reached inside, and cut Moffat’s safety belt with his pocketknife. After he and others took her to safety, Bailey returned to the wreckage. Despite growing and spreading flames, which by then entered the vehicle’s passenger compartment, he reached inside and cut Higgins’s safety belt, then helped remove her to safety. Flames shortly engulfed the vehicle. Both women were taken to the hospital, where Moffat died of her injuries. Higgins was detained for treatment of her injuries, which included severe burns. Bailey also required hospital treatment, for minor burns to both forearms, from which he recovered.