Three staff members from an elementary school in Buckingham, Quebec were honored today for their courage in diffusing a situation with a gunman three years ago. They were among several people today who received Medals of Bravery from Governor General David Johnston. The three, a secretary and two elementary school teachers are ordinary women who faced an extraordinary event April 19, 2011.
A 25 year old man, armed with a hunting knife, rifle and several rounds of ammunition walked into the Saint-Laurent elementary school in Buckingham, in the northeast sector of Gatineau. He wanted inside a classroom.
‘I was kind of scared,’ said 7-year-old Lorrane Frenette at the time. The Grade 2 student saw the gunman was outside her classroom.
School secretary Rachel Lacroix Pilon was the first to see the man and the gun, when he showed up unexpectedly at the school, asking to register his son, though no child was with him.
‘He opened his coat and he was armed,’ recalls Lacroix Pilon today. ‘He wanted to go inside a classroom.’
Followed by Lacroix Pilon, he approached a classroom run by teacher Josee Pilotte, who read into Lacroix Pilon’s eyes that they were in danger. The secretary managed to call police while teachers Josee Pilotte and Janelle Lanoix tried to calm the man down and keep the children safe.
‘It was a big moment where you have to be calm,’ recalls Pilotte. The gunman told her to do exactly as he said because ‘he was not alone and had friends waiting outside if we didn’t,’ she told CTV News.
Today, the three received medals of bravery from the Governor General for defusing a volatile situation and preventing a tragedy.
The gunman, Rock Dagenais, was arrested and no children were injured.
‘It's difficult for us,’ says Lacroix Pilon, of reliving the event and receiving the award, ‘but now we can feel good. It’s three years ago so we feel good now.’
Forty-five Canadians were honored today for acts of bravery, including Cst. Skeeter Kruger with the OPP who rescued a man from drowning in Bracebridge, Ontario, crawling onto thin ice to pull him out of the water and safely to shore.
The youngest recipient was Hailey Menard of Havelock, west of Ottawa, who was only 8 when she risked her life to save her little sister.
Hailey jumped into the gutter filled with animal waste to prevent her 3-year-old sister, Olivia, from drowning while waiting for help to arrive. Two paramedics, Mark Cameron and Greg Landon were also honored for helping but they said Hailey was the true hero that day.
‘If it hadn't been for Hailey holding on to Olivia’s head,’ says Landon, ‘Olivia would have drowned and we wouldn't be here today celebrating Hailey’s actions.’
‘She was only 8-years-old at the time,’ says Cameron, ‘and she had wherewithal to jump into the water which was up to her waist, holding her sister's head above the manure-filled water for about half an hour.’
‘Bravery, courage, valor; these are mere words,’ the Right Honourable David Johnston told the recipients, ‘but you have breathed life into them through your actions.’
Sadly, Olivia, who is now 6, lost her leg in the accident. Hailey, still overwhelmed by it all, couldn't talk on camera. Sometimes, words aren't needed when actions are enough.
