Three teens are being hailed as heroes for helping to save the life of a man in the throes of an overdose in a bathroom stall at their Victoria school.
What started as a normal school day in December 2019 turned into an emergency situation when Al Baraa Al Homsi, Majeed Sultan and Ahmad Al Shehab heard someone in medical distress in a bathroom stall at Victoria High School. They opened the door and realized a man was suffering from an overdose.
Al Shehab and Sultan stayed with the man while Al Homsi ran to get help from school staff.
“I told [the teacher] that there’s something going on in the washroom that I think is not OK,” said Al Homsi, who is in Grade 11.
Two teachers, including Niki Lukat, who has first aid training, ran into the bathroom and provided CPR to keep the man breathing. Vice-principal Alissa Moore administered naloxone, a drug that counters the effects of an opioid overdose, to revive the man. B.C. Ambulance paramedics attended and provided further care to the man, who was not a Vic High student.
The quick actions of Al Homsi, Sultan and Al Shehab earned them a Victoria Police Department’s civic service award, which was presented at the department’s hall of honour on Friday.
“The care and concern displayed that day by the three students and the actions of the school staff are truly a team effort which resulted in the saving of a life,” said Victoria Police Chief Del Manak, who handed the teens their plaques as their families looked on. Manak said the teens’ names will be displayed in the hall of honour alongside others who have saved a life.
“To recognize great work, to recognize students, citizens, people in our community who go above and beyond and keep our community safe and healthy, I think it’s a really good thing,” Manak said.
Al Homsi said he was honoured to receive the award but said he just did what needed to be done in the situation.
“We were very hopeful that we did what we could to save somebody’s life,” he said. “There was something going on so we needed to take action before it was too late.”
Chris Koutougos, vice-principal at Victoria High, said all the school’s principals and vice-principals are equipped and trained to use Naloxone kits. “We knew at the time when we were doing the training that it was going to be a skill we’d need to have given the circumstances happening in the community with the opioid crisis,” Koutougos said.
All three teens are from Syria. Al Homsi said his family moved to Victoria from Syria five years ago. Sultan’s family has also been here five years while Al Shehab’s family moved to the city two years ago.
“I was raised and taught to help anybody that I can,” Al Homsi said. “And when we first came here we got lots of help and from all Canadians, wonderful people, now we will try to help as much as we can.”
