Local Heroes and heroines were honoured at the Government House yesterday for risking their lives to save others. Ten residents were honoured by Acting Governor Mark Capes for various deeds of heroism at the annual Bermuda Bravery Awards ceremony. The awardees included Captain Mark Adderley, Warren Vincent, Chris Caponigro, Debbie Kay Martin, Maurice Pitcher, Chief Inspector Anthony Mouchette, Firefighter Justin Robinson, Jay Rewalt, Alistair Jack and Richard Collis. Mr. Capes welcomed all the guests. "In my book, such spontaneous acts of bravery to save others, in most cases complete strangers, is hard to top," he said. Mr. Capes told a story of meeting a Police officer from the states who had lost colleagues in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The officer gave the Acting Governor a wristband with the words, "Heroes live forever". "I have no doubt that you heroes will forever live in the hearts of those that you saved and in the hearts of their family and friends," he said. Mark Selley, chairman of the association, presented the awards to the recipients with Chris Lodge, a committee member, reading out their exceptional stories. Mr. Adderley was honoured for administering life-saving techniques to an unconscious 72-year-old woman who was having a heart attack on the charter boat he was operating, in October 2005. Mr. Vincent risked his life to stop a runaway horse and carriage on Bermudiana Road after it bolted from Front Street on April 25 of this year. Mr. Vincent jumped from his vehicle, climbed onto the carriage and successfully stopped the horse on Serpentine Road. On the same day, Ms Martin grabbed nine-year old Sophia Shanks from a runaway horse and carriage while her mother, Barbie, lay bleeding on the ground. Ms Martin kept Sophia in her care while Ms Shanks was taken to the hospital in the ambulance. The mother and daughter were reunited at the hospital Mr. Capinigro, after hearing screams from Flatts Bridge, jumped onto a punt and pulled two drowning people out of the water in June last year. A boy was trying to rescue a girl but couldn't keep up with the current. To add to the magnitude of his deed, Mr. Capinigro can't even swim!

After breaking up a fight between a ship's crew member and a few locals in Dockyard, Mr. Pitcher pulled the near drowning crew member from the water and administered first aid to a gash on the man's head in April. Ch. Insp. Mouchette and Mr. Robinson caught a young woman by her clothes as she attempted suicide by jumping off a ledge above East Broadway in October 2006. The two men were hoisted up in a ladder truck and were jointly responsible for grabbing her as she attempted to kill herself. Mr. Rewalt, Mr. Jack and Mr. Collis worked at lifeguards at Horseshoe Beach and successfully rescued 40 people in active drownings in a five-hour shift due to rip currents as Hurricane Helene passed the Island. The next day, despite warnings not to enter the water, the trio carried out 15 more rescues. All the awardees were presented with a certificate in a cedar frame.