HALIFAX — Rorey Chamberlain said he never expected saving another man's life would change the course of his own.
Chamberlain, 26, had just finished sweeping a chimney in Rothesay, N.B., on Jan. 19, 2014 when he heard a man's desperate cries for help in the distance.
He dialled 911 and rushed down an embankment, across a busy street, down another embankment and over train tracks to the edge of the frozen Kennebecasis River.
It was there he found a man in his 70s clinging to a sheet of ice. Chamberlain said he reassured him that help was on its way, and the man managed to pull himself back up onto the ice.
"But then he fell through the ice again, right in front of me," said Chamberlain in an interview Wednesday, after being decorated for bravery by Governor-General David Johnston in Halifax.
"I'll never forget seeing that.... He was there and then he was gone. He was completely submerged."
The man did manage to resurface and grab hold of a sheet of ice.
"I guess instinct kicked in and I started to try and make my way out to him," said Chamberlain, who waded through freezing waist-deep water before climbing on top of the ice and crawling the rest of the way on his stomach.
"I didn't know how I was going to get this man out of the hole. This man is big. Not overweight — just big."
He eventually managed to grasp the man's jacket and pull him up onto the ice. The pair then crawled their way back towards the riverbank.
"You could feel the cold wind. But the oddest thing was that the second time I got back into the water... it felt just like getting in a hot tub. Your skin is so cold it was just like getting into warm water. It was unbelievable."
Chamberlain was among more than 70 Atlantic Canadians decorated by Johnston, one of two men given a medal of bravery.
Chamberlain, who is from Plaster Rock, N.B., said although the ordeal only last a few minutes, it has had a huge impact on him. His life was essentially directionless — the chimney sweeping nothing more than a one-day job.
"I was 24 and unemployed and you think maybe you're not doing things right or you're not achieving anything," said Chamberlain, dressed in a grey suit with a pink shirt.
"And then you have a moment like that and it reaffirmed to me in a big way... that I'm obviously where I'm supposed to be and on the path that's I'm supposed to be taking. It was a turning point in my life."
Chamberlain said shortly after the incident, he found a new job, where he is still employed.
He said his heroism also scored him major points with his new girlfriend. The pair are still together today.
But the biggest reward, perhaps even bigger than having a medal of bravery pinned to your suit's left collar by the Governor-General, was sharing his story with his grandparents, some of whom have since died, said Chamberlain.
"They were really proud of me for the way I reacted," he said with a smile. "That goes a long way for me because it's a very endearing memory of them."
Also Wednesday, Jason Comeau of Moncton, N.B., received a medal of bravery for his role in the aftermath of a tractor-trailer crash near his hometown on Oct. 10, 2010.
Comeau, 36, was working on the Trans-Canada Highway when the truck crashed, and he ran towards the flaming vehicle with a fire extinguisher.
Comeau busted a truck window to retrieve the driver's wife, who was pinned inside, and pulled her to safety moments before the cab became fully engulfed in flames.
