Defeated council candidate awarded certificate of merit
On Sept. 20, 2017, Fabien Kalala Cimankinda was with his young daughter, visiting relatives in the Caldwell Avenue neighbourhood where he grew up, when he heard several bursts of gunfire.
First making sure his daughter was safe, he rushed outside to see what had happened, and found a young man conscious but bleeding on the ground. Cimankinda and other bystanders applied pressure to the man's wound to try to stop the bleeding, and told him he was going to be OK.
"While we were doing that, I saw from his eyes that we were losing him," Cimankinda told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Wednesday. "I said to myself, we have to do something, I have to do something, because that man on the floor could be my brother. It's someone's son."
When the man lost consciousness, Cimankinda performed CPR until police and paramedics arrived.
The shooting victim, 20-year-old Hamzeh Serhan, later died in hospital. Cimankinda was driving home with his daughter when he heard the news on the radio.
"I had chills in my bones. I stopped the car and I started blaming myself, actually. I was thinking that I did something wrong," he said.
Listen to the entire interview with Cimankinda below.
Certificate of merit
At an event Tuesday night, Cimankinda received a certificate of merit from the Ottawa Police Service, an awrd presented to citizens who, "in an act of unselfishness, provided assistance or demonstrated a unique concern for the safety and well-being of another individual."
Const. Tina Pippy, Brent Carriveau, Daniel Brenner and Mackenzie Vonk also received certificates at the event.
Cimankinda said he felt he didn't belong on the stage because his story was the only one without a happy ending. Earlier that day, he had spoken with the shooting victim's sister by phone.
"Even today, the shooter is still at large, and the family is still suffering for it," he said. "She was telling me that they're still living in that pain, to know that the person who killed their brother is still out there."
Bravery award remains on hold
In recognition of his actions, Cimankinda was also set to receive a bravery award in February at a meeting of the city's community and protective services committee, but it was delayed.
In June, he heard from the city that it would have to wait until after Ottawa's October municipal election. At the time, River ward Coun. Riley Brockington was vice-chair of the committee.
Cimankinda had not announced his candidacy, but was widely rumoured to be considering a run against Brockington.
During an election debate in October, Cimankinda expressed frustration about the delay.
"When they decided to give it to me, I wasn't a candidate. They wait [four] months to tell me I'm not going to receive it because I became a candidate," he said.
Coun. Diane Deans, the committee's chair, said at the time that the decision to postpone the award had nothing to do with politics; rather, she said, the committee's agenda was full.
'It's all behind me,' Cimankinda says
Brockington was re-elected in October.
Asked Wednesday whether he thinks his delayed award was political, Cimankinda said it appears that way, but added he isn't focused on it.
"It looks like [that] now, but it's all behind me, because at the end of the day I never asked for it," he said.
"And I thank the people who nominated me — if it comes today I will still be honoured to receive it — but it's not my thing anymore and I've moved on. I'm being involved in the community."
