Niagara police officer humbled as he receives the Medal of Bravery

Four Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) constables will be presented with the Medal of Bravery on Thursday by Governor General Julie Payette.

Daniel Bassi, Jacob Braun, Neal Ridley and Allan Rivet are in Ottawa and being recognized for subduing an active shooter in Fenwick, Ont. on Oct. 10, 2015.

Ridley was able to help neutralize the threat, despite being shot in the neck and shoulder by a distraught man who was threatening to blow up his apartment building.

The now, 10-year NRPS officer notes that the bullet missed his carotid artery and esophagus by a couple of millimetres.

Since then, he has had three surgeries while putting “purpose” behind the ordeal, telling himself that: “I didn’t die, I’m not in a wheelchair. Where do I go from here?”

Ridley achieved a major goal earlier this year by qualifying to run the 2018 Boston Marathon.

He describes receiving the Medal of Bravery, which recognizes acts of bravery in hazardous circumstances, as “humbling.”

Ridley estimates that close to 90 per cent of police officers never take their firearm out of its holster, and “you hope it never happens.”

While he still has psychological and physical concerns and issues, stemming from the shooting, Ridley stresses that “I’m back where I was.”

He concludes that “the shooting hasn’t changed me, but I look at things with different eyes.”