Homeless man saves teen’s life

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This article was published 05/05/2009 (6317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – A homeless man is being hailed as a hero after diving into the frigid, fast-moving Red River to rescue a teenage boy over the weekend.

Faron Hall and his friend, Wayne Spence, were sitting on a bench on the Tache Avenue riverbank just north of the Provencher Bridge when they spotted a teenage boy tumbling over the bridge’s guardrail and into the Red.

The boy and his friends were on the bridge’s north sidewalk and were trying to race across when the boy pole-vaulted over a railing onto what he thought was the pedestrian bridge. But the two spans aren’t connected, and instead of landing on concrete the boy did a back-flop into the water. The sound he made on impact was remarkable, say witnesses.

"I thought, ‘This isn’t going to be a rescue, this is going to be a recovery,’ " said St. Boniface resident Marion Willis, who was walking back from The Forks with her family Sunday afternoon.

But that’s when Hall, without thinking, shucked his backpack and dove into the river, swimming out about 15 metres to grab the boy.

"When he dove in, I thought, ‘Are you friggin’ nuts?" said Spence.

The boy was apparently unable to swim because of injuries to his back, but he was panicking and getting sucked under by the eddies and the undertow.

"He started to fight me and climb on me," said Hall. "He ducked me under a couple of times so I had to slap him in the head a couple of times or he would have drowned both of us. I feel really bad about that but we would have been in Lockport by now if I didn’t. I just said ‘You’re cold, I’m cold. Just lay on your back and kick.’ "

Just as Hall was nearing the shore and about to give in to the cold and exhaustion, Spence reached out and dragged the two and pulled them onto shore. By then, paramedics had arrived and took the teenager and Hall to St. Boniface General Hospital.

Hall was able to briefly visit the boy, who was conscious but still shivering.

Late Monday, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service officials had no information on the boy’s condition.

Hall, 44, has been an alcoholic living under the Provencher Bridge — "-51 C with the wind chill is my record," he recalls — for about seven years. A member of the Dakota Tipi First Nation, he says he grew up in a good foster home in Waverley Heights, finished high school and was working as a teaching assistant at Hugh John Macdonald School while taking education classes at the University of Manitoba. But booze took hold, especially after his mother was murdered on Maryland Street about a decade ago. About three years ago, his sister was stabbed on Main Street.

"I had potential," said Hall. "There have been so many pitfalls in my life."

But Willis, who went back to visit with Hall Monday, said his quick-thinking bravery should make people think twice when they encounter the homeless.

"This is a man that most people would avoid at all costs, who is kind of scary-looking," said Willis. "But he just had both the courage and the humanity to not even think about it and just plunge himself into the water to save a life."

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Did you witness the rescue, or do you know the boy who was saved? The Free Press wants to hear from you. E-mail us at city.desk@freepress.mb.ca or call 697-7292.