St James trio honoured for daring June 6 floodwater rescue

WESTERN BUREAU:

When Kenroy Wright, Desrick Myers, and Marcel Binns cooperated to save two children from being swept away by flood waters in Tucker, Irwin, St James on June 6, none of them imagined that they would be publicly honoured for simply doing the right and brave thing.

Yet, that was what ended up happening months later on October 16, when the three men received the Mayor’s Special Award for their gallantry during the 2023 staging of St James’ annual National Heroes Day Civic and Awards Ceremony in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

Asked how they felt about such public recognition for their actions, Wright expressed humility and awe that he and his fellow residents were chosen to be recipients of the Mayor’s Special Award.

“I felt so good in myself about getting this award. I can’t even tell you the expression I felt, but I felt so good because I did something and didn’t look to get anything, but I got something,” said Wright, a 47-year-old chef.

Myers, a 37-year-old tour operator, noted that helping others in need is second nature to him, and it was that character trait that led him to risk his life for the children.

“I always try to help people. If I am coming from work and I see accident on the road, I don’t know them, I just take them up and rush with them to the hospital. My mother-in-law and I were talking about it, and she said, ‘D, one day is gonna come when your blessing will come,’” said Myers.

Binns, a 26-year-old mechanic, said he had expected to get a divine reward from God for his actions before getting a physical reward from men.

“To tell you the truth, I never expected the award, because I told myself that it’s the Almighty that I’m looking to get the award from for the good work. But it is a good thing they acknowledged what we did and I’m very pleased about it,” Binns admitted.

On the afternoon of June 6, the two children were swept into a gully while trying to cross a flooded roadway in Tucker, Irwin. At that point, Wright, Myers, and Binns, who were all in the vicinity, jumped into action to save them from death by drowning.

Wright, who operates his business close to where the daring rescue took place, told The Gleaner that he believes it might have been divine providence that led him into a position to save one of the two children from being washed away.

“That day, it came like the Father did a work, because I live on the hill away from the shop, and the rain started to fall and I took up an umbrella and reach over to my neighbour’s yard. A mind said to me, ‘go put back down the umbrella.’ When I reach out a road and see the rain start fall, I said to one of my bredren, ‘You know if I carried my umbrella, I woulda gone up already,’” Wright recounted.

“After I walked away to go back to my yard and reached across the road, a mind said to me, ‘go check the bathroom pipe and see if it burst off’, because my pipe runs into the gully. By the time I reach the bathroom door, is the youth I see step off into the water,” Wright added, recalling his effort moments later to jump into the water and retrieve the child.

Myers noted that he was carrying his family members home when he saw the two young boys fall into the gully.

“It was work I was coming from, and I picked up my little boy from school and picked up my mother-in-law, and I ended up having to drive around Tucker. God is God, because if I had gone through the water with my car those two little boys wouldn’t be saved,” Myers said with some emotion.

“The little kids were trying to cross. One dropped off in the water and then the next one afterward. Some truck drivers were saying they were not going to go into any dirty water to save the little men because they did not know what is in the water washing down. But I couldn’t be there and see them washing away, because it could have happened to my son same way, or to my niece or nephew, my friends, or co-workers, so I did what I had to do,” Myers added resolutely.

But despite jumping into the water to retrieve one child while Wright rescued the other, Myers wound up needing additional help from Bigg, who likewise sprang into action the moment the children got swept into the gully.

“The chef [Wright] caught one of them, and the other guy [Myers] caught the other one. But when the second guy caught the other one, the banking side was tearing away, so I had to bend down and hold on to him and call for help, and the crowd came and helped us,” Binns explained.

None of the three imagined that they would end up being among 15 residents of St James who received special honours on this year’s staging of Heroes’ Day. They were among five residents who received the Mayor’s Special Award for 2023, while the other 10 awardees received the Sam Sharpe Award for 2023.

In the meantime, Binns believes that work should be done on the bridge in the Tucker community to prevent a recurrence of flooding in that area.

“What they have to do is raise up the bridge. It’s just two culverts they have there and the body of water that’s coming down there, those two culverts can’t manage such water,” said Binns.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com

- Albert Ferguson, reporter for The Gleaner Western Bureau, for contributing to the field of journalism

- Gena Haughton, president of the St James Netball Foundation, for contributing to the field of sports

- Collette Barnes, principal of Flankers Primary and Junior High School, for contributing to the field of education

- Alen Webster, extension officer for the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, for contributing to the field of agriculture

- Dr Carlene Grant-Davis, consulting paediatrician at Cornwall Regional Hospital, for contributing to the field of health

- Wayne Cummings, chief executive officer of the Arya Group of Companies, for contributing to the field of tourism

- Bernard Wesmore Salmon, president of the Comfort Hall Community Development Committee, for contributing to the field of community service

- Inspector of Police Delroy Harriot, zone commander at the Barnett Street and Granville police stations, for contributing to the field of national security

- Dr Alloi Allen, chief executive officer and medical director of the Oneness Health Centre, for contributing to the field of industry and commerce

- Kenneth ‘Lord Laro’ Lara, musician, for contributing to the field of arts and culture

- Fitzgerald Roach, now-retired water production manager at the National Water Commission, for contributing to the field of community service

- Gavin Edmond, teacher at St James High School, for contributing to the field of education

- Kenroy Wright, Marcel Binns, and Desrick Myers, for their role in rescuing two boys from being washed away by flood waters in Tucker, St James during heavy rains on June 6 this year.