A pair of South Porcupine residents are being recognized for their heroic actions recently.
This week, friends Rick Pelkie and Shaun Butler stopped by city hall to be honoured with an Act of Valour from the City of Timmins. They each received certificates and recognition for their swift response to an emergency recently.
Wednesday, Nov. 16 in the early afternoon an elderly woman fell through the ice in an area of the White Waterfront Conservation Area in South Porcupine after veering off the trail. It was during a flood warning for the Porcupine Lake area and water was high in the area.
Pelkie and Butler were on their way home from delivering newspapers on Connaught Hill when a lady ran from the park asking if they had a cell phone. She asked them to call 911 because someone had fallen through the ice, recalled Pelkie.
They both ran across the park to help and kept sinking in the cold water.
“I was four or five feet away from her but I couldn’t go no more because my feet were too frozen,” said Pelkie.
Cochrane EMS, Timmins Police and the South Porcupine Fire Department responded to the scene. Police say the woman is doing OK and is recovering.
“Some people say it was risky, but … we had to do the right thing. We couldn’t leave her in there. Even though I was four or five feet away I tried to grab her but my feet were just too frozen and I had to get out,” said Pelkie.
The Act of Valour was initiated by South Porcupine Coun. Lorne Feldman after a resident told him about the "heroic acts".
“We’re all here because of Shaun and Rick, to be honest, two very special South Porcupine heroes doing extraordinary things,” said Feldman.
It's important that residents are taking care of each other in the community, said Mayor Michelle Boileau after presenting the pair their certificates.
"It really demonstrated that spirit of community so we wanted to highlight that and make sure that there’s some good news stories coming out of the city as well as some of the negative stuff that we’re hearing. It’s important that we’re recognizing when our residents are doing these acts of kindness towards one another,” she said.
