Calgarians honoured for acts of bravery
robin kuniski for metro calgary
Calgarian Corey Wood, with his girlfriend Heather Kirwin, holds up the silver medal for bravery he received yesterday in Edmonton. Wood and Kirwin were lauded for saving three California teens in 2006.
Seven Calgarians were recognized for their bravery yesterday, including a Calgary man who was instrumental in the dramatic rescue of three California teens along a seaside highway in the summer of 2006.
Corey Wood received a silver medal for bravery from the Royal Canadian Humane Association’s annual bravery awards ceremony in Edmonton yesterday for going above and beyond as a good samaritan.
Wood, 37, vividly recalls the tragedy along a California highway involving five teens and a truck that tumbled over a 450-ft. cliff to the chilly ocean waters below.
He and his girlfriend Heather Kirwin, who received an honorary testimonial award from the RCHA for her role in the rescue, were flagged down by a teen covered in blood, informing them of the truck at the bottom.
“I knew there were other kids, I just… these were teenagers, and I knew if they were in the water, time was of the essence,” said Wood, a former lifeguard.
Wood, who was on vacation at the time, climbed down and pulled one teen who was clinging to the cliffs back to safety, then spotted a third teen sitting on a small ledge further below.
Knowing there were two more passengers unaccounted for, Wood scaled down to the truck below to find one teen dead and another trapped in the truck, clinging to life in the rising water. While he tried desperately to free him from the wreckage, the advancing tide swallowed the truck and the young man.
Wood stayed with the teen until there was no pulse or response, before he swam to safety.
Three of the five teens survived, and Wood still keeps in semi-regular contact with their families.
He was honoured to receive the medal for bravery at yesterday’s ceremony.
“I think it should happen more often,” Wood said of recognizing random acts of courage. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a life-or-death situation, but to be recognized by your government is important.”
| award winners |
|
