Courage lives at UHN – but it also extends beyond these walls. It’s in the patients and the staff who come here every day.
On August 1, 2010, work was the furthest thing from Dr. Kenneth Sniderman’s mind. He was on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto, soaking up the tail end of summer.
But when the UHN radiologist saw a speedboat fly through the air, overturn and then break apart when it hit the water, the doctor in him took over.
Using several boats, Dr. Sniderman and others who saw the crash made their way to the sinking vessel – where a man was trapped beneath the wreckage.
Amid shards of glass and gasoline, Dr. Sniderman and his fellow rescuers dove in to save the victim.
They pulled the man free and, after bringing him to one of the nearby boats, revived him.
The courage Dr. Sniderman showed that day saved a man’s life. It also awarded him with the Medal of Bravery by His Excellency, The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, for bravery in hazardous circumstances.
Dr. Kenneth Sniderman is an interventional radiologist with the Joint Department of Medical Imaging, UHN.
