On Friday Dec. 19, 2025, at its annual Christmas breakfast for office staff, chief and council of Rainy River First Nations, as well as the family of Gary Medicine, honoured OPP constable Aaron Green who successfully used his OPP issued drone to help find Medicine when he was lost on Aug. 14, 2025, in the area of the RRFN veterans monument.
Medicine, who has Parkinson’s Disease, had fallen in long grass near the monument and was unable to move due to the weakness in his muscles caused by the disease, according to a statement read by the family at the breakfast.
“The area where he had fallen had high ground cover and was very dense around him and everyone that passed the area looking for him was not able to see him,” they said.
“He was also unable to respond to calls that he could hear as his voice is shallow from Parkinson’s. Without the swift intervention, the outcome would have been tragic.”
An OPP citation, read by Rainy River Detachment Commander Insp. Jim Mills also mentioned that while Green wasn’t technically trained to use the drone for search and rescue, he went above and beyond to help save a man’s life.
“Recognizing the need for rapid action, you accessed your OPP issued RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System), or drone unit from your cruiser and launched it within moments. Your decisive use of this technology beyond its intended purpose proved critical and within minutes successfully located the missing man lying in the grass,” the citation said.
“That’s not part of the training Cst. Green received for that, that was above and beyond what he’d been trained for but he was able to recognize and do that decisively.”
Chief Jim Leonard also presented Green with a gift on behalf of the Manitou Rapids Chief and Council noting that it’s a traditional practice in the community to give gifts to those they want to thank and honour.
Leonard also had a personal connection to the matter, being close friends with Gary Medicine from a young age.
“Gary was my best friend since we were this big,” Leonard said.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
