I had the pleasure of hosting the Calgary Police Service annual Chief’s Awards Gala last Thursday, an evening to honour the Calgary police officers and civilians who have gone above and beyond over the past year to assist others in danger.
I’ve been hosting this event for the past 15 years, and every single year I’m amazed at the stories of people who react “in the moment” to help someone in need.
This year I was able to interview four young men, a group of skateboarders, who stopped a sexual assault in progress. They didn’t consider their own safety, only that a female teen was in distress.
Watch below: Global’s Leslie Horton talks to Arnaud Nimenya, Carsyn Wright, James Hielema and Starlyn Rivas-Perez.
I also met a mom and dad who attended the gala to show support for the seven police officers who responded to their daughter’s fatal car crash. The parents have since formed a bond with the officers, who made every effort to save their daughter, and made sure the young woman was never alone at that tragic scene.
Watch below: Dan and Brenda Lavallee join Global Calgary with details of the extraordinary relationship that has developed between them and a handful of Calgary police officers after the tragic loss of their daughter.
I also met Erin O’Connor, a woman who administered first aid to a stabbing victim who was laying in a parking lot, while others walked by without stopping.
Watch below: Matthew Eyre and Erin O’Connor are just two Calgarians being honoured at the Chief’s Awards in Calgary. Leslie Horton talks to them about their stories.
Matthew Eyre, a young man who intervened to keep someone from jumping to their death on a busy road, told me he did it because it was “the right thing to do”–which was a common theme through all of the stories.
Learning the details of the challenges police officers face on a daily basis is also an eye-opening experience. So many brave men and women in our city make me proud to call Calgary home, and humbled to hear of the heroes among us.