A West Vancouver secondary school graduate is being hailed as a hero by police for intervening in a stabbing at the school last October, stopping the attack and tending to the victim's life-threatening wounds.
Chief Const. Peter Lepine and Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones recently presented Yale Henry, 18, with the Certificate of Merit, the highest honour the police board can bestow. It is the first time it has been given out.
"It makes me feel proud," Henry told the North Shore News. "It's not everyone in life that gets that opportunity. Even if I knew I wasn't going to get any sort of award, I would have done it anyway. He's my friend and I would have done it for any of my friends."
Just before noon on Oct. 29 last year, Henry and his friend approached a popular smoking spot at the western edge of the high school's campus. Neither Henry's friend, 16 at the time, nor the attacker, who was 15, can be identified.
"Next thing I know the kid's got a knife," Henry recalled, "and he managed to get my friend to the ground. I hesitated for a moment because I couldn't tell if it was a knife or a pen or what. But when I saw what it was I went in and picked him up and pulled him away. When I pulled him off he still had the knife on him. I put both my arms around his torso and his arms and I held on tight so he couldn't move his arms."
Unable to free himself from the six-foot-four Henry's bear hug, the attacker dropped the knife. While other students were yelling and screaming around him, Henry turned to his wounded friend.
"I looked down at my friend and the back of his shirt was completely covered in blood. He was bleeding really badly. I'm not usually too nervous about blood and as soon as I saw it I knew what to do. It's instant - you have to put pressure on it, and I was going full force. He said 'It's hard to breathe' and I knew something was wrong with one of his lungs. We found out later that day one of his lungs was punctured."
Paramedics later told Henry if he hadn't stepped in, the boy's lung would have collapsed before the ambulance arrived, putting the young man's life in grave danger. He sustained three stab wounds to the back and one to the chest.
The victim was rushed to Lions Gate Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. His attacker is now facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and uttering threats.
Henry has since graduated and is heading to BCIT in the fall to train as an electrician.
"Nothing less than heroic," said Lepine. "It's a true sign of friendship to put your friend ahead of yourself, finding the strength from within to deal with a very difficult situation and also administering first aid. It's a rare occasion you see it at any age level but to see it coming from such a young person really speaks to his character. That's why it was important to us to be able to recognize Yale's efforts and what he did to save his friend. He played a large role in preventing his friend from dying."
"He's a good kid," said Henry's father Brian. "He's always been a good kid. He's never been in a fight in his life and he wasn't in one here. He just saw something happening to a friend and he stepped in and stopped it. It's pretty cool; we're very proud of him."
