Brothers honoured for saving choking woman
REGINA — Darren Katzell isn’t used to the kind of attention he has received in the past few months.
He says the act causing the publicity just reflects the person he has always been.
On Feb. 6, the Yorkton man was on his way to meet his new grandson in Saskatoon. Before the visit, he stopped to meet his brother Chris at Saskatoon’s Centre Mall food court.
Ten minutes later, his day took a different turn.
Seated behind him, with her daughter and granddaughter, a woman began choking on her food.
Darren and Chris rushed to assist the woman.
“With the Heimlich manoeuvre, unless you’re actually performing it, you can’t really practise it. You know your form and I thought, ‘I hope I’m doing this right,’” Darren said.
As Darren used his firstaid training on the woman, Chris called 911 and comforted her family. In the end, Darren was able to get the food dislodged from the woman’s throat.
On Tuesday, the brothers received a Premier’s Commendation Award for the act.
Darren said he feels unworthy of the award, but appreciates the recognition.
“I’ve always thought that I’ve been this kind of person that would help out in a situation like this, and this has been clarification that that’s who I am,” he said.
Since the incident, Darren has been in contact with the woman and her family several times.
“They’re still very thankful for that day. There’s been new friendships that have come out of it, so that’s always a good thing,” he said.
This is the second year in which the Premier’s Commendation Awards have been presented. Premier Brad Wall said the awards were created to shed light on acts of heroism.
“A couple of years ago, we identified a bit of a gap. There was really no way for us to, maybe in a more formal way, recognize an act, especially an act of courage ... that people in this province have done that would warrant us coming together to honour them this way,” Wall said.
Six others were also honoured with the award Tuesday:
■ Travis Laycock (Saskatoon) rescued a couple from a submerged car near Bruno in 2014;
■ Bill Nagel (Regina) aided a boy who had slipped from a ski lift in Montana and was in danger of falling to the ground in February;
■ Blaine Switzer (Swift Cur- rent) and Jonathon Thomason (Rush Lake) rescued a woman trapped in a burning car after an accident near Rush Lake in 2011. The late Anthony Williams (Burlington, N.C.), who died in 2013, was also involved in the rescue;
■ Bob McGrath (Teaneck, N.J.) was given the award for his work with Telemiracle.
■ To recommend a candidate for the award in the future, people are asked to contact their MLA.