The Lifesaving Society's Rescue Award of Merit may be given to individuals involved in a water-related rescue or to Lifesaving Society award holders for a non-aquatic rescue. Lifeguards and instructors who perform rescues in the course of their employment are not normally eligible. You can read about some of our recent Rescue Award of Merit heroes below.

The criteria for deciding whether to recognize an individual include ability to recognize the emergency, a willingness to intervene; and evidence of good judgment. Neither the outcome (successful or not) nor the degree of risk involved are criteria in the decision to recognize an individual. However, timeliness is an issue. Normally, recognition is only given within 24 months of the rescue.

Send a written nomination outlining the facts to the Society's office. Include information concerning when, where and under what circumstances the rescue occurred; what the rescuer (or others) did; the correct name, address and telephone number of the nominee(s).

Once approved, the Rescue Award of Merit certificate and a citation are prepared. Normally, we look for a public presentation opportunity like the Society’s Annual Meeting, a school assembly, town or city council meeting.

2007 Recipients

Brad Creamer – Tecumseh Seventeen-year-old Brad Creamer was playing pick-up hockey with some older guys during the early morning hours of Saturday October 21, 2006. On the bench between shifts, a friend of one of the regulars said, "I think I’ve had it for today." Brad, a National Lifeguard, asked if he was all right - "Yes," he replied. The 41-year-old man went to the dressing room as the game continued. Twenty minutes later, a fellow player went to see how the man was feeling and found him in the room, on the floor in his street clothes, motionless, eyes open. The player called for help. Brad and a volunteer firefighter responded. The victim had no pulse. They sent someone to call 911. Brad instructed the firefighter to begin rescue breathing and had another bystander begin compressions while he ran to get the AED unit. The D-fib unit prompted to give two shocks. After these, the AED suggested no further shocks but continued compressions. The emergency crew arrived and took over the rescue effort. They set up an EKG and worked on the victim for another half-hour, but were unable to resuscitate him. Brad, who has a good understanding of the realities involved with lifesaving, was understandably sad with the outcome, but knew he had done what he could under the circumstances. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Brad Creamer on March 30, 2007.

Patrick Dagher – Markham Patrick Dagher was eating his lunch at school on February 6, 2007, when a schoolmate, Alexandre Suddard, approached him motioning for help - he was choking. Alexandre had eaten a piece of steak that was now lodged in his throat. He tried to remedy his problem by eating a grape and drinking water to push down the wedged morsel. It didn’t work, so he went to the sink to spit it up but the food was completely stuck. He then approached Patrick, who holds the Society’s Standard First Aid certification. Initially, the incident didn’t seem dire because Alexandre was coughing, but once Patrick realized it was serious, he stood up, wrapped his arms around Alexandre’s waist and performed three abdominal thrusts. On the third try, the food in Alexandre’s windpipe came up. The other students, now relieved, stood up and clapped. The teachers also praised him for his efforts. Alexandre was rushed to hospital where he recovered. Later, he gave Patrick a hug and thanked him for saving his life. After the incident, a confident Patrick (who plans on becoming a doctor or paramedic), did what all heroes do – he went to the office and filled out an accident report. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Patrick Dagher on March 30, 2007.

Carling Ellis (Wasaga Beach), Mandy Keast (Collingwood) Carling Ellis and Mandy Keast were on a break from their lifeguard duties at Centennial Pool in Collingwood on August 9, 2006, when a skate-park attendant alerted them that a boy had seriously injured his arm while climbing a fence. Carling and Mandy advised the on-duty guards, directed one to call 911, and met the boy, Matthew, and his mother Roxanne as they were making their way to the pool for help. Matthew had a deep, long laceration on his forearm, a result of attempting to climb a nearby fence - falling - and catching his arm atop the chain-link. Along with blood, the tendons, muscles and arteries were all visible. Once they were back at the pool, Mandy sat Matthew down while Carling fetched the first aid kit. The two lifeguards calmly took steps to control the bleeding and dress the wound; their composed demeanor and kindness eased Matthew’s apprehension. Paramedics arrived after approximately five minutes to take Matthew to the hospital. The guards also consoled Roxanne, who was in shock but wanted to follow the ambulance to the hospital with her two other sons already in the car. At the lifeguards’ insistence, Roxanne stayed behind until she regained her composure. Mandy and Carling deftly managed the injury and the emotional turbulence of the incident. Matthew narrowly escaped doing severe damage to his arm and left the hospital with 16 stitches. Roxanne was so impressed by the efforts of the two guards, she wrote to the Lifesaving Society to express her deepest appreciation. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Mandy Keast and Carling Ellis on March 30, 2007.

Leif Erickson – Brockville With a favourable weather forecast, Leif Erickson and two other kayakers left Point Traverse for an overnight trip to Main Duck Island on August 20, 2005. Midway through the journey, a storm blew in that turned the waters of Lake Ontario from calm, to turbulent – to dangerous. One of the kayakers, Morris Buckner, had trouble negotiating the rough waters and eventually capsized. Leif turned around to help Morris, who was swimming and trying to get back into his kayak. After several failed attempts to get Morris back into his kayak, Leif tried towing Morris, capsizing his own kayak several times in the process. Morris was so tired he grew nauseous, and vomited, at which point Leif sent the third kayaker on to the island to get help. Leif stayed behind with Morris. The storm was unrelenting and Leif, too, began struggling with fatigue while doing everything possible to keep his friend alive. Leif helped Morris hang on to his kayak, continued talking to him and encouraged him to persevere. After an astonishing six hours on the lake and in the water, a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter found the exhausted men clinging to life. A weakened Morris was lifted from the water using a basket while Leif was lifted by the yolk. Both men spent time recovering on warming beds at Kingston General Hospital before being released. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Leif Erickson on March 30, 2007.

Matt Fawns – Toronto On April 13, 2006, Matt Fawns was on the diving board at the school pool during gym class talking with a couple of friends. As he was about to dive in, he noticed a dark figure at the bottom of the pool. Earlier, one of Matt’s classmates was in the pool, hanging on to the edge while walking towards the deep end. Unwitnessed, he apparently lost his grip in the area where the pool deepens and slipped under. Matt, who holds the Society’s Bronze Medallion certification, swam down to find the figure was in fact this classmate. Matt put the boy against his shoulder, pulled him to the surface and called for help. Another student helped him lift the body out of the water. The gym teacher and on-duty instructor-lifeguard, who were watching from outside the pool office near the middle of the pool, reacted quickly, performed CPR and eventually revived the victim. Matt was applauded for his efforts by the staff and students, but was shaken up by the experience. The next time he was in gym class, Matt was encouraged to jump right back in to the water, which of course, he did. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Matt Fawns on March 30, 2007.

Laura Goldberg – Thornhill Laura Goldberg, a lifeguard and lifesaving instructor, happened upon four emergency situations over the past year. On February 12, 2006, she was boarding a bus when she heard someone yell for help and noticed a woman having convulsions. Laura suspected a seizure, but the woman was coherent, so Laura supported her head, checked her vitals and asked about her medical history. After repeated questioning, Laura learned the woman was on multiple medications. Another bystander called 911 and helped Laura with secondary first aid. When EMS arrived, Laura passed along the information about the woman’s various medical conditions. On May 2, 2006, while Laura was working her part time job at a grocery store, a woman outside the store tripped on the sidewalk and landed on her face. She was cut above the eye and on her cheek, and her nose and mouth were bleeding. Laura grabbed ice to apply to the woman’s neck and lightly applied gauze to her painful facial injuries. The victim’s daughter called 911 while Laura wrote down information, which she passed along to the paramedics who arrived shortly thereafter. Laura also assisted at the scene of a serious car crash and another situation where a woman was suffering from hypoglycemia. Laura is starting to believe that life might be suggesting she become a paramedic – and she’s seriously thinking about it. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Laura Goldberg on March 30, 2007.

Clayton Jenkins – Barrie Eleven-year-old Clayton Jenkins and his fourteen-year-old cousin, Andy, were enjoying a swim in Lake Cecebe at their great-aunt’s cottage in mid-July, 2006. They swam out to a floating dock, then turned around and started swimming back to shore. That’s when Andy started panicking - and drowning. Andy, who admittedly isn’t a great swimmer to begin with, also suffers from a heart ailment, which caught up with him in the form of fatigue. As he lost strength, he started sinking. In an attempt to survive, he let himself sink to the bottom and pushed up quickly to get a short breath at the surface. But this self-rescue technique wasn’t going to work for long. Clayton immediately swam back to his larger cousin, grabbed him, and tried unsuccessfully to pull him to shore. Instead, Clayton joined Andy in sinking and surfacing; pushing him up each time they were at the bottom and yelling "help" when they were at the surface. This went on for about four minutes – Andy started blacking out. Finally, people from a neighbouring cottage arrived with a rescue tube. With Clayton pushing, the bystanders pulled Andy to shore. Once on the dock, with blue skin and eyes wide open, a cottager slapped Andy’s back and he vomited up water and regained consciousness. Andy was taken to hospital where and was released a couple of hours later with a bad headache. A frightened Clayton called his cousin and was relieved to hear he was all right. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Clayton Jenkins on March 30, 2007.

Sam Lau (Thornhill) Daniel Lena, Steven Morana (Richmond Hill) Lifeguards Sam Lau, Daniel Lena and Steven Morana were practicing their lifesaving competition skills at Wasaga Beach on July 19, 2006. Daniel and Steven were on their paddleboards several hundred feet from the beach when they heard a cry for help. A young boy had fallen out of his inflatable raft and couldn’t climb back in. With the winds blowing away from shore, no one on the beach could hear him as he drifted into deeper waters. Luckily, Daniel and Steven caught up with him, calmed him down and helped him back to shore, where even then, his parents were nowhere in sight. Later the same day, the three guards were jogging. As they returned to their belongings on the beach, they heard someone shouting "Help, help, CPR!" They rushed over to the crowd where they found a bystander performing compressions on a boy in his late teens; the boy was unconscious and had just been pulled from the water. Sam and Daniel took over compressions while Steven controlled the crowd. The victim was vomiting and the rescuers could smell alcohol on his breath. Despite their best efforts, they were unsuccessful in reviving him. Paramedics arrived approximately 10 minutes later and assumed responsibility. The three guards were consummate professionals in dealing with the loss, understanding full well that lifesaving rescues do not always end happily. They said a prayer and moved on, feeling thankful they had already saved a life that day. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Sam Lau, Daniel Lena and Steve Morana on March 30, 2007.

Taryn Orava – Aurora Taryn Orava and a friend pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant on November 24, 2006, and heard the restaurant manager yelling, "Call 911!" Taryn called 911. Then she noticed the older woman underneath the passenger door of a pick-up truck – stuck between the curb and the truck, which had one wheel on the curb. The woman was crossing the street on her electric scooter when the truck hit her, crushed her scooter, and dragged her onto the curb. Taryn approached and said "I’m a lifeguard." The woman yelled "Help me!" Taryn suspected a spinal injury and stabilized the woman’s head and neck. She loosened the woman’s jacket and checked ABCs. Others lifted the truck off her. The truck was leaking gas near the scooter’s battery until a bystander doused the area with an extinguisher. While the woman had a strong pulse, and there appeared to be no bleeding, she did appear to have a broken wrist and possibly, a broken hip. Taryn found out the woman also suffered from diabetes, bone marrow cancer and congestive heart failure; when Taryn asked where it hurt most, the woman replied ruefully, "Ask me where it doesn’t hurt!" Police and fire crews arrived and took over the immobilization. The woman was taken away and ultimately survived her non-life-threatening injuries. Ten minutes after the event, a calm Taryn was at the Brock University pool in time for her usual lifeguard shift. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Taryn Orava on March 30, 2007.

Mathew Vizbulis – St. Catharines Twenty-eight-year-old Mathew Vizbulis was rock climbing in Niagara Glen, a tourist area on the bank of the Niagara River, on the afternoon of July 29, 2006, when he heard screaming. At first, he mistook the voice as kids playing, but when he went to investigate the distressing sound, he discovered a woman on the edge of the river pointing to the water where her husband and two sons were floating, apparently unconscious – trapped in an eddy. Mathew, an experienced swimmer and white-water kayaker, ran to the water and stopped: suddenly, he began assessing the risks of jumping into the class-five rapid where water rushed by at 40 kilometres per hour. He looked back at the distraught woman, calculated there was a strong chance he’d become another casualty, took off his shirt and jumped in the river – he couldn’t let the children drown. The power of the current prevented Mathew from swimming in any specific direction, so at about six metres from shore, he stopped to let the bodies float to him. The first to hit him was the father. Mathew struggled to manoeuvre the large man and began yelling as loud as possible in his ear to establish if he was alive - the man’s eyes opened. Mathew towed him to shore where, luckily, another couple was on the scene to pull the victim up and over the slippery rocks, and to encourage Mathew to keep going. With renewed confidence, Mathew swam back out and pulled the teenager to shore; he swam out again and pulled in the third victim, an 11-year-old boy. Incredibly, all three victims were alive, a fact made more astonishing by the knowledge that they were within seconds of drowning and only a few metres from being sucked downriver. Bystanders helped Mathew out of the water and he sat down, exhausted. The whole rescue had taken about 10 minutes. The mother, speaking in thick-accented English, thanked Mathew for rescuing her family. She told Mathew her youngest son had slipped off the rocks into the water and the father and brother fell in trying to catch him – none could swim. The father, now on his feet, was also thankful. The 17-year-old was throwing up and the 11-year-old was barely conscious, wrapped in his mother’s sari. An emotional Mathew rested, trying in vain to subdue the adrenaline and crying on and off as he realized he’d just saved an entire family. Paramedics arrived about 20 minutes later and arranged for a jet boat to take the youngest son to hospital where he was released later that day. Mathew spent the afternoon in a surreal fog, telling his story to friends at a coffee shop and trying to calm down. Later that night, he relaxed with a few rescue beers. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Mathew Vizbulis on March 30, 2007.

2006 Recipients

Beverly Bureau – Welland Beverly Bureau pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick her daughter up from work on May 16, 2005, only to notice an elderly man collapse and hit his head on the pavement while his wife looked on in distress. Beverly, who holds the Society’s Standard First Aid certification, got out of her car and approached the man. There was no apparent danger so she went ahead and checked his level of consciousness: he was conscious, but confused, and had a goose-egg-size bump on the back of his head. Beverly calmed him down, monitored his vitals, and took a moment to advise Wal-Mart staff to contact EMS. The man told her he had recently had knee surgery, which explained the fall. Beverly determined the knee had not been seriously re-injured, so she treated the head wound with first aid supplies she received from the Wal-Mart staff, and helped the man into a wheelchair, also provided by the store. The man insisted he could drive home, but appeared disoriented when Beverly asked him questions, and his wife did not drive. Beverly, along with one of her daughters and her son (both of whom worked at Wal-Mart at the time), helped the man into their car and drove him home where his adult children took him to the hospital. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Beverly Bureau on March 24, 2006.

Christine Wagg – Ottawa Christine Wagg and her daughter were driving to the pool on the morning of September 25, 2005, when they came across a serious car accident at a busy intersection; a northbound minivan had collided with a car turning left from the southbound lane. The impact was severe, and the woman who drove the minivan was lying on the ground while three children moaned and sobbed inside. Christine, a Lifesaving Society First Aid Instructor, assessed the woman’s vitals and asked a bystander to stay and keep her calm. Christine approached the two boys in the back seat of the van. They appeared to be all right, so again, Christine assigned a bystander to talk with them and to not let them move. Christine turned her attention to the girl in the front seat; she was having trouble breathing as a result of the impact of the air bag. Christine calmed her down, and that’s when she noticed the haunting stare of the injured man who drove the second car – ashen and in severe shock. Christine left the young girl in the hands of yet another bystander and approached the crushed car. The man did not sustain life-threatening injuries, but the woman in the passenger seat was trapped. Christine reached in and took her pulse: she was barely alive, her lips were blue and black, and thick blood was coming from her head. There was nothing more she could do until emergency crews arrived minutes later and took over. Firemen had to cut the roof off the damaged car using the Jaws of Life. Christine stood aside exhausted after managing the entire accident scene. Her daughter Brooke, a young lifesaver, gave her mom her sweater and comforted her. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Christine Wagg on March 24, 2006.

Paula Seggewiss, David Inglis and Mark Haney – London Three teachers at H.B. Beal Secondary School were called into emergency action on December 15, 2005, after a student collapsed in the classroom. Mark Haney was the first teacher called to the scene. He approached the downed student and heard gurgling. Suspecting a seizure, Mark made sure the boy’s airway was clear and positioned him to allow drainage. He sent another teacher to call 911, cleared the students out of the classroom and initiated a Code Blue. David Inglis, a First Aid and NLS Examiner, was the first responder to the Code Blue. By this time, the student’s condition had deteriorated: he was unconscious with vital signs absent. Paula Seggewiss, a Bronze Cross Examiner and Lifesaving Instructor, arrived with a face mask. She and David began two-person CPR with David doing compressions and Paula doing air to mask breathing. Mark remained on the scene and controlled the crowd, provided backup, and coordinated with the principal and authorities. The ambulance crew arrived and asked Paula and David to continue CPR while they prepped the defibrillator. The student’s normal sinus rhythm returned almost immediately but he did not regain consciousness – the rescuers later discovered he had a heart condition and was temporarily off his medication. In hospital, the boy recovered quickly over the next couple of days and returned to school shortly thereafter. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Mark Haney, Paula Seggewiss and David Inglis on March 24, 2006.

David Kerr – Orleans The sight and sound of lightning hitting the ground almost directly in front of him was not the scariest moment for 16-year-old David Kerr, on July 13, 2005. Finding out that someone close by had been struck by lightning, was. David, just one exam away from receiving his NLS certification at the time, was with friends at a shopping centre waiting for a ride when he heard a woman screaming for help: “My husband was hit by lightning,” she yelled. David followed her around the corner and found the man lying on his back. In that moment, David didn’t think he would have to help, but realizing no one else knew what to do, he immediately jumped in. He checked ABCs and found the man had no vital signs. There were no obvious signs of entry and exit points from the lightning, which David relayed to a bystander who was on the phone with EMS. David began compressions until another bystander showed up and helped with CPR until EMS arrived. Paramedics later praised the rescue effort and confirmed it contributed to saving the man’s life. Reports said the man had burn marks on his stomach indicating he was hit directly by the bolt. He currently resides in a long-term care facility. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to David Kerr on March 24, 2006.

Kyle Martin – Burlington Kyle Martin’s mother, Mary-Lynn, and his sisters were enjoying some downtime by the pool while on vacation in Oakland Park Florida on August 3, 2005. A few people were swimming in the unguarded pool, including a two-year-old girl wearing water wings. While no one was looking, she took off her water wings and slipped underwater. Her uncle noticed she was gone shortly thereafter, saw her body in the pool, and pulled her out – stricken with fear, he had no idea what to do with his unconscious niece. Mary-Lynn quickly called up to Kyle, a Bronze Cross holder, who was in the condominium. Kyle ran out to the pool and put the girl on her side to clear her airway. Sure enough, she started vomiting. Then, Kyle rolled her on her back, checked her vital signs and began CPR until the girl regained consciousness. They wrapped her in towels but she immediately went into shock. The little girl’s mother had called 911, but someone needed to meet the paramedics at the condo’s main entrance and lead them to the pool. Kyle and his sister Samantha ran a half-mile in their bare feet on extremely hot pavement to meet the emergency team. The ambulance took the girl to the hospital where she recovered. The paramedics also tended to Kyle’s and Samantha’s cut and burned feet. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Kyle Martin on March 24, 2006.

Rebecca Baxter – Bradford International student Rebecca Baxter had more than driving on the “wrong” side of the road to contend with when she attended a party in Australia, in February 2005. The party was in a humid, cramped third-floor Sydney apartment and the temperature was about 35 Celsius. Several of the students at the party had arrived in Australia only a couple of days earlier, yet that day, some of the them, including a young man named Aaron, had played basketball outdoors, worked out, eaten little, and were now drinking. Soon after, Aaron went pale and stumbled over onto the couch. The stunned group gathered around and awkwardly downplayed his condition. Rebecca, a Bronze Cross Examiner and Lifesaving Instructor, rushed to the man’s aid while another Canadian, Bill, moved the crowd out of the way and called an ambulance. Rebecca did her primary assessment and began asking Aaron questions. He was in and out of consciousness, had minor swelling and was scratching himself incessantly. She found out he was allergic to cashews and had eaten some mixed nuts. Aaron was also boiling hot. Rebecca suspected he might have heatstroke so she gave him water, helped him remove a layer of clothing, and cooled him down with damp towels. Rebecca monitored Aaron’s vitals and made sure his airway stayed open until the emergency crew arrived. She gave them the information she’d recorded including pulse rate and times, symptoms and incident history. The crew gave Aaron an allergy shot immediately and put him on IV. Aaron was taken to hospital on a stretcher and later recovered. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Rebecca Baxter on March 24, 2006.

Peter Mumford – Richmond Hill

On December 5, 2005, a fitness consultant stepped out of his office at the Bayview Hill Community Centre to find a man slouched over an exercise machine and struggling to breathe. He checked the man’s ABCs and found no vital signs, and immediately called 911, paged the facility operator for assistance and began CPR. The facility operator called the pool office and reached Peter Mumford, Lifesaving Society NLS Chair and Examiner, who grabbed his first aid kit and headed for the fitness room.

When Peter arrived on the scene he cleared the bewildered patrons from the room and began two-rescuer CPR. When the fire department arrived, they asked Peter to continue with compressions while they prepped the defibrillator. By this time the man had been without a pulse for 18 minutes. The fire crew gave the man a single shock before the EMS crew arrived and took over. The EMS team gave the man two more shocks, and remarkably, the 70-year-old man left the building with a pulse and completely recovered.

The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Peter Mumford on March 24, 2006.

Bill Hudson – Ancaster

A distraught woman plunged from a footbridge into the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta on July 30, 2005. A passing boater, Eric Hagglund, noticed the woman floating towards the weir and paddled toward her. He asked his wife to call 911 and jumped in. After a few scary moments in which the victim panicked and struggled, Eric pulled her to a shallow area and found a foothold. Twenty five minutes had passed.

Boaters Yves Trudell, his five-year-old son Matthieu, and his father-in-law Bill Hudson, spotted the two people in the water from a distance and steered their Zodiac towards Eric and the woman. At the same time, a man from shore was swimming towards the victim. Yves jumped into the water holding his bow line to keep the boat in place, and Bill and the man from shore helped the woman into the boat. Bill, a retired firefighter, checked the woman’s vital signs and found she was breathing and with a pulse. But she was unconscious and her breathing was shallow.

Yves walked the Zodiac into deeper water where they met the fire department rescue boat. The woman was promptly taken to hospital. The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to William Hudson in April 2006.

Catherine Smith and Kyle Kirkup – Orleans

Catherine Smith and Kyle Kirkup were working at the Orleans Recreation Complex pool on October 25, 2005, when they received a phone call from the front desk – a 50-year-old “spin” instructor had lost consciousness and stopped breathing while leading a class.

Catherine, a Bronze Cross Examiner and Lifesaving Instructor, ran to the scene. When she arrived, some of the class participants were already performing CPR. Catherine sent someone to get the automated external defibrillator (AED) and took over the rescue effort. Kyle, a Lifesaving and National Lifeguard Instructor, shut the pool down and went to join the rescue effort.

By this point, Catherine had turned off the victim’s heart-rate monitor and prepped the AED. After one shock, the AED prompted Catherine to continue with CPR. She and Kyle did so. After about one minute, they used the AED to analyze the man again and it suggested checking for a pulse – they did – and indeed, the man had a pulse.

By the time the fire crew arrived, the man had regained consciousness but was confused and in shock. The fire crew took over care of the victim and maintained his open airway before paramedics arrived and took the man to hospital where he quickly recovered. The paramedics later reported that the quick actions of Catherine and Kyle undoubtedly saved the man’s life.

The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Catherine Smith and Kyle Kirkup in April 2006.

Chris Howatt – Caledonia

Chris Howatt, an Examiner to the Distinction level and aspiring paramedic, did not expect to find himself in his first rescue situation while out with a friend on February 26, 2005.

It was Saturday night; Chris and his friend Mandie were at a bar watching a band. Chris noticed that Mandie looked pale and asked if she was all right. She said she was fine. Mandie went to washroom to freshen up and came back. Moments later, she collapsed.

Amid the crowd, Chris didn’t notice Mandie go down until he felt something against his leg. He looked down and saw Mandie – on the floor and unconscious. Chris quickly pulled her out of the crowd and to the front entrance where he assessed her vitals and found she was not breathing. He had someone call 911 and began CPR.

After about a minute, Mandie started breathing again, though her breath was shallow. Chris continued to assist her with ventilations until EMS arrived. Mandie did not regain consciousness at the scene; in fact, she had suffered a severe asthma attack and was without her medication. Chris went with the ambulance team to the hospital where Mandie recovered and was released the next day.

The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Chris Howatt in April 2006.

Eileen Kelly – Whitby

Eileen Kelly was at work eating lunch in the cafeteria with her colleague Ray in August 2005. Suddenly, she heard Ray gurgling. Eileen, who holds the Society’s Emergency First Aid award, remembered her instructor mentioning that she might hear gurgling if someone was choking.

Eileen asked Ray if he was choking and he nodded. She asked if she could help and again, he nodded. Eileen lifted him up from behind, kicked his chair aside, put her foot between his feet, made a flat fist just above his bellybutton and thrust upwards and inwards – nothing happened.

Ray was turning blue and Eileen was scared. Her mind raced with what to do next, and she remembered her instructor’s voice saying that you might even have to thrust enough to lift the victim right of the floor. On her second thrust, that’s exactly what happened, and the piece of steak lodged in Ray’s throat went flying. Ray threw up, and the sound was a relief to Eileen, who knew it meant Ray was breathing again.

The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Eileen Kelly in April 2006.

Todd Stiles – Orleans

Todd Stiles and his wife were walking through their neighborhood on February 5, 2005, when a panic-stricken young boy approached them yelling that his cousin had fallen through the ice on a nearby pond and needed help. Todd directed his wife to call 911 and ran down to the pond where he found Kevin Farahani in the pond hanging on to the edge of the ice. Todd told Kevin to stay calm and to kick his feet to keep them moving. Then, remembering the ice safety lessons he’d learned as a boy, Todd began making a rope using his jacket, pants and belt.

Another bystander approached and offered his clothing to allow Todd to make the rope longer. In just his underwear and T-shirt, Todd crawled out onto the ice to get closer to Kevin while the bystander held Todd’s ankle. Todd threw the rope, and after a few tries, Kevin caught the rope and the bystander helped them both to shore.

By the time emergency crews arrived, Todd and Kevin were wrapped in blankets and warming up in a nearby model home. Like a true hero, Todd is more pleased about the opportunity to do something to promote water safety than receiving accolades.

The Lifesaving Society presented its Rescue Award of Merit to Todd Stiles in April 2006.

Click here to read rescue stories from previous years.

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