Mississauga News, May 25th, 2009
By: Dominik Kurek
Some of Peel Region’s outstanding citizens and police officers were honoured tonight for their contributions to the safety of their communities.
Awards were handed out at the Police Services Board Awards Ceremony that took place at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Among the recipients was Mississauga’s Matt Turner, 20, whose quick actions helped save another man’s life.
Turner, who received the Civilian Citation at the ceremony, was riding a Mississauga Transit bus in April of last year when a fellow passenger collapsed from a heart attack.
“No one seemed to provide CPR and the bus driver did not know what to do so I stepped up and did CPR on the man,” he said. Turner, 19 at the time, continued CPR for about four minutes until emergency crews arrived and took over. Turner is a St. John’s Ambulance volunteer. The ill man eventually survived.
“I don’t think it was that big of a deal,” he said. “I just did what I was trained to do.”
Peel Regional Police Sgt. Darren Brennan received a Police Commendation award for preventing a potential kidnapping. Brennan received a call from a motel clerk who reported a man checking-in with two young children. Brennan came to the motel and, after speaking with the man and the children, Brennan had his suspicions.
He called the children’s parents, who said the man wasn’t a relative, but a close family friend. The parents said the situation was fine, but Brennan’s suspicions continued.
Brennan sent a police officer to stay with the children and the man until the parents arrived. It turns out Brennan’s suspicions were true. “There was a threatening letter of death with respects to a potential ransom and a kidnapping (involving the children),” he said. The man was arrested.
“This left a funny impression in my head that I better double-check everything and it’s a good thing we did,” said Brennan. The awards ceremony recognized several citizens and police members for their actions that helped ensure community safety. There were also media awards handed out to organizations for their help in spreading public awareness about policing issues.
