'It's my first award ever': Hikers honoured after using turbans in Metro Vancouver rescue
Five friends from Surrey, B.C., were presented with awards from the RCMP on Tuesday after a quick-thinking, creative rescue in a provincial park in Metro Vancouver earlier this month.
The group went hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park in Maple Ridge over Thanksgiving weekend and came across two men stranded near a fast-moving river. One man was on a large rock and the other was lower down, dangerously close to the water’s edge.
At the ceremony where the men were given Community Leader Awards from the Ridge Meadows RCMP, Gurpreet Singh recounted that day.
“We saw those guys, they were struggling to get out,” Singh said. “He was so cold down there, his hands were numb I think.”
With no cell service, the group decided to improvise. The three men wearing turbans unravelled the headdress to make a rope which, when combined with their jackets, was strong enough to pull both hikers to safety.
Supt. Wendy Mehat with Ridge Meadows RCMP praised the actions of the group.
“The two young men were in danger of drowning,” Supt. Mehat said at Tuesday’s ceremony. “Your quick thinking and your heroic actions undoubtedly saved the lives of the two young men at Golden Ears Park.”
Volunteers with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue arrived on scene shortly after the rescue but their services weren’t needed. Search manager Rick Laing said it could have been a much different outcome.
“The location where this occurred, it’s a common spot from where we pull people out or we recover bodies,” Laing said, adding that by the look of the video it appeared the group had the “presence of mind” to stay well above the rushing water.
“I thought it was very ingenious,” he said.
At the ceremony, Supt. Mehat also paid tribute to the religious significance of the rescue. In Sikh faith, turbans should not be removed in public and are usually only taken off in the privacy of the home, unless it's used to help others.
“In these matters we really don’t care if it’s religious or not. It’s one person's life, we can save it,” Singh said. "We can tie it (the turban) again as many times as we want, but that life, we can’t bring it back.”
Initially, the group was hesitant to share the video at all, according to Laing.
“They were really, really reluctant heroes. They didn’t want to have it known to everybody,” he said, adding he’s glad the group got the “recognition that they deserve.”
News of the rescue spread far beyond B.C., with the video shared by CNN, NBC and also on news sites in India.
Singh, 21, said they didn’t expect it to “blow up that much.”
“My parents got so many congratulations from my relatives and, like, villagers, so I’m very proud,” he said. “It’s never happened before, it’s my first award ever in my life.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.