Local woman honoured for saving drowning teen
If heroism is “holding on a minute longer,” then one Edmonton woman is truly a hero.
Those were the words of Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong honouring seven recipients of Royal Canadian Humane Association merit medals for bravery, including local Krista Girvan.
The recently-graduated licensed practical nurse was cited for plucking a 16-year-old girl out of a raging North Saskatchewan river while others stood by and watched.....
Top honours of the day went to silver medal Calgarian Casey Peirce, who single-handedly pulled two canoers and their 600-pound vessel from the middle of an icy mountain lake this summer.
Peirce, 30, was on a bicycle ride with family around Spray Lakes near Canmore July 26, when the group heard two people in the water yelling for help.
They saw a man and woman about a kilometre from shore clinging to their overturned canoe and Peirce, who trains and runs triathlons, dove in for them.
She said it took 15 minutes to swim out to the couple, but at least 45 minutes to swim back with them in tow through water that was near freezing.
“I couldn’t put my face in the water for the first 100 feet,” she said, calling the water extremely cold.
“We knew that we were the last ones” that would be passing by the lake that night, she said, a thought that mixed with adrenaline to motivate her heroic effort.
It took “superhuman” effort, said the award presenter, to haul the two people, paralyzed by the cold and unable to paddle or kick to help, and their canoe, which was loaded with a outrigging gear, a boat motor, gas and a container stuffed with blankets and provisions.
I have always wondered what I would do in an emergency situation. Thank God I have not been tested like that yet, but I hope I would do the best I can, always. Kudos to those who have been tested and have found within themselves that spark that makes humanity wonderful and exceptional, the ability to care for someone in true need.
1 comment:
You know, it's ironic that we have politicians like Lizzie May who crow about how wonderful they are and how they must be recognized and yet do nothing useful. Then, we have people like this hero who, not for glory or publicity, actually saves lives.
Funny how the real heroes go unsung and the losers get all the press.
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