‘Critical link in the chain of survival’: Vancouver fire officials honour heroes
Credit to Author: Denise Ryan| Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 02:08:29 +0000
Colton Hasebe has been through more in his 14 years than most kids. And he wants to make sure every other sick kid has the same opportunity he has: A second chance at life.
At age 10, Colton went into cardiac arrest as the result of a massive asthma attack.
For 15 minutes, while doctors fought to revive him at B.C. Children’s hospital, his brain received no oxygen. When his heart started beating again, Colton had suffered a permanent brain injury. He could no longer walk, talk, see or feed himself.
Now, after a recovery that surprised everyone, Colton is a Grade 9 student at Seaquam secondary in Delta. Colton has raised over $18,000 for B.C. Children’s Hospital, mostly by selling cookies.
“B.C. Children’s Hospital helped me, out so I decided to give back to them,” Colton said before a ceremony at Vancouver City Hall on Tuesday where he was awarded a Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services commendation and the Wilson Liu Community Hero Award.
Jonathan Gormick, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services public information officer, was joined on stage by Mayor Kennedy Stewart, deputy city manager Paul Mochrie and fire chief Darrell Reid to present Colton and five other citizens the Fire Chief’s Commendation.
Stewart said people don’t need to wear a uniform to serve and protect. “These people represent the best this city has to offer,” he said.
Colton Hasebe received a Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services commendation and the Wilson Liu Community Hero Award.
Megan Harkness, a registered nurse, didn’t know nursing students Alyssa Record and Emily Cloutier before Sept. 4 when the three women happened to get off the same bus outside the Nanaimo Street SkyTrain station. The women noticed a driver in distress. Harkness ran to the car and asked passersby to help her get the man out of the vehicle. Record called 911 and stayed on the line while Harkness and Cloutier performed CPR for eight minutes until emergency services arrived.
Megan Harkness.
Alyssa Record.
Emily Cloutier.
“Their immediate interventions saved his life,” said Gormick.
Another award for bravery was given to five-year-old Mayelle Stanley, who has performed above and beyond the call of duty as big sister to two-year-old Finnley while he is being treated for leukemia. Mayella sings to her little brother when he’s in pain, said her mother Jenell, and when the family’s car recently caught on fire on the Ironworker’s Memorial Bridge it was little Mayella who kept him calm.
The family from Armstrong in the southern Interior has been travelling to Vancouver for Finn’s treatments and staying at Ronald McDonald House, but the journey has been anything but smooth for the family.
Mayelle Stanley.
“Every time we get through a treatment, we try to reward our kids with an adventure. After coming back from an adventure to Deep Cove, our car caught on fire,” said her father Jordan Stanley. “She did such a good job helping Finn during the fire.”
“Now we don’t have a car,” Mayelle said matter of factly. “We have someone else’s car.”
The final award of the day went to Shaune Wesley, a city engineering crew employee who provided resuscitation efforts to his colleague Moreno Cerra, who was injured in a roadside accident.
“He was just going about his business on a normal day when he saw someone in terrible distress. He didn’t think twice about jumping in to try and save this person,” said Gormick.
Although Cerra did not survive the accident, Gormick said Wesley’s actions were nothing short of heroic.
Shaune Wesley.
“We expect that from firemen and paramedics, but when ordinary people jump into incredibly stressful hazardous situations to help someone out, it’s amazing and it inspires others to do the same,” said Gormick.
Even the smallest act can make a huge difference in someone else’s life, said Gormick.
“Ordinary people are often the critical link in the chain of survival.
“They are the people who call 911, who see someone in trouble and stop it from becoming worse, who make it easier for us to do our job. What saves people are the immediate actions of people around them who stop things from getting worse.”
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