CapU students use turbans for rescue effort
Students receive Community Leader Awards for their selfless act of bravery
CapU students Arvindjeet Singh and Kuljinder Singh and three friends, are being called heroes after they used some ingenuity and quick thinking to rescue a man trapped by a rushing waterfall.
As reported by the North Shore News, on Thanksgiving weekend the five friends - all international students from India - took a daytrip to Golden Ears Provinicial Park. While hiking to the Lower Falls, they were stopped by two women searching for a cell phone signal in order to call 911, but there is no cell service in that area of the park.
When they reached the waterfall, they saw a man clinging to the cold, slippery rocks adjacent to the fast moving water. He was stuck and unable to climb out.
"At first we started searching for something like rope," says Arvindjeet Singh. "Then my friend had an idea: 'Why can't we use our turbans and jackets to make rope?' "
The three men who wear turbans quickly untied them. By knotting together three turbans and five jackets, they were able to make a 10 to 12 metre long rope.
"It was not that easy," said Singh.
The slippery, wet rocks made it difficult for the rescuers to find safe footing. Plus, they were nervous about whether the knots keeping their "rope" together would hold. The careful rescue operation took approximately 30 minutes to complete.
"People see us heroes, but we are not heroes it was just act of humanity. In our Sikh culture, our major teaching is to help someone who is in need."
UPDATE: As reported by CTV News on October 26, 2021, the five students have received Community Leader Awards from the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment for their selfless act.
At the award ceremony, RCMP Superintendent Wendy Mehat paid tribute to the religious significance of the rescue. In the Sikh faith, turbans are not to be removed in public; they can only be taken off in the privacy of home.
“In these matters we really don’t care if it’s religious or not. It’s one person's life, we can save it,” said Gurpreet Singh. "We can tie it (the turban) again as many times as we want, but that life, we can’t bring it back.”
News of the rescue spread far beyond B.C., with the video shared by CNN, NBC and news sites in India.
Submitted by: Communications