Carnegie Medal presentation to Carnegie Hero Robert Conant

Carnegie Hero Robert Conant, center, received his Carnegie Medal at a Nov. 16, 2017, ceremony at the Ontario Provincial Police department honoring highway safety employees. Police Commissioner J.V.N. (Vince) Hawkes, left, and volunteer presenter Dennis J. Rogers, presented the medal to Conant.

In 2015, Conant, an on-duty police officer of Stoney Creek, Ont., responded to the scene of a man who had become stranded on the wall of a steep ravine at a point about 10 feet from the wall’s abrupt drop. Concluding that there was not enough time to wait for rescuers, Conant tied one end of a worn rope that was at the scene around his chest as the other end was secured to a tree root.

He lowered himself to the man, who outweighed him and was struggling to maintain a grip on a tree branch with one hand while holding his dog in his other hand. Conant helped reposition the man to a more secure position, straddling the branch, until rescuers could arrive.

Firefighters eventually used a series of ropes and a harness to secure and remove the man and his dog to the top of the cliff, an hour after his ordeal began. Conant was raised in a similar fashion, having spent 30 minutes on the cliff face.

Rogers, also a Carnegie Medal awardee, rescued a woman from a burning home in 2002. Conant said he particularly enjoyed spending time with another Carnegie Medal recipient.

“I met Dennis, and he was a great guy,” Conant said. “We shared some laughs, compared some stories, and created a good connection.”