Doing what others won’t
On Feb. 17, a group of 12 Durham residents were honoured at regional council.
Standing in the council chambers, each of these individuals received a plaque and a handshake.
Plain and simple, this group deserves more than a fancy slab of wood and a friendly gesture – they deserve more than these simple words can convey because each of them changed the world in 2015.
They didn’t invent the next best form of transportation or cure a deadly disease, but each of them made an impact on someone else’s life in a big way, and while the world at large may have gone on spinning without notice, these individuals changed the world of those involved in their harrowing tales.
During the ceremony, Sgt. Emmanuel Iheme with the Durham Region Police Service said these people didn’t do what they did for the recognition, but, “they simply did it because it was the right thing to do.”
It sounds easy and safe when you put it that way, but what many of these people accomplished expunges that simplistic explanation.
Saving an unconscious boy from the bottom of a swimming pool (as a group in Ajax did) takes more than just the notion of what is “right.” Stepping in between employees and a mentally ill man in crisis (as one Oshawa man did) takes more than just honourable intentions. And finally pulling a man from a burning car wreck (as another Oshawa man did) takes a lot more than a basic understanding of ethical behaviour.
These things take bravery, and it makes this editorial staff feel safer knowing that people like these 12 are walking the streets with us because these people are willing to do what most won’t.
One individual honoured earlier this month was Steven Genore, a security guard with the City of Oshawa.
While on a patrol of a downtown parking garage, Genore spotted a man assaulting a woman on the streets below. He rushed down and was able to aid police in apprehending the suspect.
While speaking with The Express, plaque in hand, he told his story and mentioned that there were “tons of people around,” because it was downtown Oshawa. Yet, none of them were willing to do what Genore did.
Each of those people passing on the street had a basic idea of what is right and wrong, yet they were unwilling to step forward and stop a dangerous assault from taking place.
Genore showed something more, and so did the 11 others during their moments of peril, and they made the world a better place because of it.
Iheme said something else during the ceremony, stating the group was being “recognized for making a difference in the lives of others by getting involved.”
Yes, but it’s not just the lives of those involved that are impacted, read the stories of these individuals and we’re sure you’ll feel different as well.