On February 23, 2013, under extreme weather conditions, Donald Mahaney led his four-person dive team to search the hull of the Miss Ally, a Woods Harbour fishing vessel which had capsized during a severe winter storm in the Atlantic Ocean. After a 40-hour rescue mission by emergency responders, none of the five-person crew or boat was found after a brief sighting of the hull. As a result, the rescue efforts were ended.

Uncertain as to whether anyone from the Miss Ally could be trapped inside the hull, family members approached Mr. Mahaney, a veteran commercial diver, asking him to resume the rescue mission. After careful consideration, Mr. Mahaney, along with Thomas Hennigar, Thomas Nickerson and Gary Thurber departed on a 30-hour mission that resulted in locating the Miss Ally, and discovering that the wheelhouse of the boat was destroyed. The divers were able to stabilize the vessel and dive under the boat. Unfortunately, the Miss Ally crew members were not found; however, the brave measures taken by Mr. Mahaney, Mr. Hennigar, Mr. Nickerson and Mr. Thurber provided some answers to what happened on that tragic February night.

For more on this year’s recipients, please visit: http://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20131120005