 |
 Faron Hall speaks to a well-wisher near the spot on the Red River where he pulled a teenage boy from the water to safety last Sunday. (Ross Romaniuk/Sun Media) |
He seemed almost immersed in accolades, days after rescuing a boy from the Red River.
Homeless hero Faron Hall was showered yesterday with tributes from the city and provincial government -- including a Mayor's Award of Valour and Goldeyes jacket and baseball hat from Mayor Sam Katz, as well as a standing ovation from MLAs at the legislature.
Hall, 44, said he's particularly proud of the medal given to him by Katz amid a throng of media at a Tache Avenue park, near where he jumped into the Red to save the teen on Sunday.
"I'm going to put it on my dad's mantelpiece," Hall said. "So he'll tell people who visit him, 'This is my son's medal.'"
Following the honours from the mayor, Hall -- who has lived around the park for the past seven years -- was taken to the legislature, where a representative from each political party made a statement in the house about his selfless decision to leap into the river and pull the boy to shore.
Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport Minister Eric Robinson plans to take Hall today to a dinner at a national aboriginal hockey event.
|
Trust funds
Marion Willis, a woman who has befriended Hall since the rescue, said residents of other provinces are offering to try to launch trust funds to battle homelessness in Winnipeg.
"This certainly has inspired, I think, a nation," Willis said of Hall. "I'm kind of calling him our Obama right now. He's like a good news story."
Among the gifts for the hero were a couple of shirts delivered to the park by Peter Dueck and Sarah Enns of Siloam Mission, "just to let him know that our doors are open to him," Dueck said.
Willis said Hall cried at her home when seeing newspaper accounts of his deed in the Red, and realizing its impact.
Hall said he didn't think twice about jumping into the river after the youth, and would do so again.
"Life is worth living, whether you live outside or in a mansion in Tuxedo," he said. "It's good to be alive."
ross.romaniuk@sunmedia.ca