Parents who saved boy, 11, after C.B.S. soccer field stabbing get rescuer awards
Two soccer parents who stepped in to save the life of a boy whose arteries were cut during a notorious 2014 stabbing at a soccer pitch in Conception Bay South were given awards Tuesday in St. John's
Gerry Stead and Alana Langdon received Rescuer Awards for providing first aid and saving the 11-year-old soccer player's life.
Stead, who was watching his own children play that night, recalled holding the boy in one arm and using his other hand to stop the bleeding neck wound while the child faded in and out of consciousness.
"What I did was completely reactionary and it amounted to nothing more than what I hope any caring parent would do for a child in distress," said Stead.
Langdon, who also happens to be a nurse, used her mittens to help apply pressure to the boy's neck while he bled profusely onto the field.
"To see a child with the odds stacked against him, fight so hard to stay with us, was so inspiring," Langdon said.
Family says thank you
The two rescuers dedicated their awards to the young victim, who was also at the ceremony with his friends and family.
The boy — whose name is not being made public — listened to people who saved his life recall what happened that night.
"In the eyes of a child, with sheer chaos around him, was strength and courage and determination," said Langdon.
The child's mother said the stabbing severed his jugular and carotid artery and surgeons had to remove a vein from his leg and put it in his neck.
He's required several additional surgeries over the last 16 months, and a large pink scar marks the front of his neck, but he is in recovery and has even returned to playing soccer.
In an emotional interview with CBC News, the child's father said he's proud of his son and finds his resilience and ability to reconcile what happened, inspirational.
"It's very hard to believe that he came through it unscathed in relation to being angry. I can't imagine there are very many people in this world who wouldn't find anger in it."
The boy's father thanked Langdon and Stead for saving his son's life.
"There's no doubt in my mind, if it weren't for their actions, the outcome wouldn't be the same," he said.
