Leading Seaman Patrick Moulden digs in the dirt of a well-worn footpath to unearth a homemade bomb that he must defuse with only his bare hands.

There is no time to call in his bomb disposal team or even don his protective suit.

Moulden, a navy clearance diver from CFB EsquimaltB次元官网网址檚 Fleet Diving Unit, must work quickly so that a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter can safely land and transport wounded soldier Pte. Brock Blaszczyk to the Kandahar Airfield camp in Afghanistan.

Minutes before, Blaszczyk stepped on an improvised explosive device on the same footpath. One of his legs just above the knee was vaporized, the other is in tatters. B次元官网网址淲hat that meant for me as an IED operator, if I donB次元官网网址檛 act immediately, threat to human life is imminent, and so risk to the operatorB次元官网网址檚 life is acceptable in that case,B次元官网网址� Moulden said, recalling the most dangerous moment of his eight-month tour to the war-torn nation in 2009-10.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 called hand dismantle B次元官网网址� I take the thing apart by hand and take whatever risk was necessary because he was going to die if I didnB次元官网网址檛,B次元官网网址� the Victoria resident said.

Thirty seconds after Moulden dismantles the bomb, the chopper lands and whisks the injured solider to hospital.

B次元官网网址淣ot only were they able to save his life, they were able to reattach one of his legs,B次元官网网址� Moulden said. Today, Blaszczyk is a corporal at CFB Edmonton.

For MouldenB次元官网网址檚 heroics on April 3, 2010, he was presented a Medal of Bravery by Gov. Gen. David Johnston, during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday. Moulden was among 36 Medal of Bravery recipients, including navy Lt. Andr茅 Bard, also from Victoria.

The medals were created in 1972 to recognize acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances.

Bard will never forget being called out by the RCMP to comb the depths of a pond in Stewiacke, N.S. in 2009 for a live grenade.

B次元官网网址�(We were) basically sticking our hands deep in the mud every time the metal detector went off, and fishing out whatever we could find,B次元官网网址� said Bard, today the operations officer of CFB EsquimaltB次元官网网址檚 Fleet Diving Unit. B次元官网网址淚f we stepped on it, or mishandled it, then things could have been bad, but you donB次元官网网址檛 think about stuff like that when youB次元官网网址檙e doing it.B次元官网网址�

BardB次元官网网址檚 dive partner, Leading Seaman David Denman of Shearwater, N.S., who received his Medal of Bravery in February, found the grenade near the shoreline. B次元官网网址淲hen we disposed of it, it made a bigger explosion than half a block of C4 (plastic explosive) would have. So then I realized ... it could have gone bad,B次元官网网址� Bard said.

During his speech, Johnston applauded the medal recipients for their instinct B次元官网网址渢o care and to save.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淵our character stands revealed to us, and it is a portrait of the very best of the smart and caring Canadian.B次元官网网址�

Bard and Moulden say they were just doing their jobs.

B次元官网网址淚f somebody else had drained that pond ... they could have set it off,B次元官网网址� Bard said.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 glad that I was able to pull it together and react the way that I did, because if I didnB次元官网网址檛 (Blaszczyk) might not have made it,B次元官网网址� Moulden said.