HONOURED FOR BRAVERY
Torey Schmidt of West Kelowna is congratulated by his 11-year old son, Taylor, after he was recognized Friday with a bronze medal for bravery for rescuing three people from a house fire.
The Royal Canadian Humane Association Canada Bravery Awards were presented to 19 British Columbians who performed selfless acts of courage that saved the lives of 26 people at a ceremony Friday afternoon at the Westbank Lions Community Centre.
Recipients disregarded their own safety to save others by digging people out of snow, jumping into rivers and dragging victims from burning vehicles and homes.
Three Kelowna RCMP officers were awarded bronze medals for dragging an unconscious woman from a minivan that had burst into flames after it struck a pole in September.
Constables Marvin Park, Lee Romanko and Ryan Routley broke the vehicle’s windshield and rescued the woman moments before the minivan was engulfed in flames.
“To be perfectly honest, there wasn’t much time to think. We just had to respond,” said Romanko.
A lot of the time, police deal with people who are angry or upset.
“That was a day where we went home and we all had a smile,” he said.
Torey Schmidt of West Kelowna received a bronze medal for bravery for rescuing a child and two adults from a house fire. On Sept. 8, Schmidt was in his basement suite making breakfast when he heard a loud bang from an apartment upstairs and noticed black smoke coming from a vent in the ceiling.
After banging on the front door to alert the residents, he climbed on a barbecue under a window to rescue a little girl.
He then brought a ladder to a window and rescued two adults.
The smoke was too intense for Schmidt to rescue two other adults. However, the fire department arrived and brought the unconscious victims out.
“I just kind of acted,” he said. “It’s good to know that they are still alive because of what I was able to do.”
One of the more high-profile awards went to Erik Brown, one of 13 volunteer divers who helped rescue 12 boys ages 11 to 16 and their soccer coach after they were trapped in the Tham Luang cave in Thailand last July.
Brown, who was born and raised just outside Langley, B.C., has lived in Thailand for the past yearand-a-half.
Over the three-day rescue, Brown and his team manoeuvred the children through a large passage of the cave, changed their air tanks, administered first aid and gave the primary divers a break.
Brown said he happened to be close and not a lot of people have the cave diving knowledge that was needed.
“That close and you can use your skill set to help somebody, you have to do it,” he said.
Brown said he felt privileged to be part of the group being recognized.
“Some of those stories were absolutely phenomenal,” he said.
Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin had been scheduled to present the awards, but she was unable to attend due to a family emergency.
West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater presented the awards as his last official duty before mayor-elect Gord Milsom is sworn in Nov. 6.