Council honours heroism, community involvement

Administrator | Nov 09, 2011 | Comments 0

Mayor Mertens presents Max Allin with a Civic Recognition Award for his bravery and heroic actions to rescue a man from drowning. Nicole Kleinsteuber photo

By Nicole Kleinsteuber
When Max Allin heard a swimmer calling for help he didn’t think twice about jumping into the Pacific Ocean to save his life.

The 15-year-old was vacationing with his family in Hawaii when he rescued a bodysurfer. The bodysurfer was thrown into the ocean by a large wave and was close to drowning because his arms had been dislocated.

“I saw this guy swimming in the ocean and then he was calling for help because both of his arms were dislocated so I decided to swim after him and save his life,” said Allin. “When I took him to shore my mom and some other vacationers helped me pop his arms back into joint.”

It was this act of bravery and heroism that led Prince Edward County council to award Allin with a Civic Recognition Award at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

“It feels great to be recognized for this,” said Allin.

“Max really needs to be commended, because he risked his own life to save another without thinking about it,” said mayor Peter Mertens during an interview. “For a younger person to have that presence in mind to do that is worthy of recognition in the county.”

Allin wasn’t the only county resident recognized by council.

Lisa Lindsay was honoured for spearheading the fundraising campaign to refurbish and resurface the track at CML Snider School in Wellington. She’s the race manager for the annual County Marathon.

“Lisa is a gem. She’s a jewel in Prince Edward County,” said Mertens. “Fundraising to resurface the track at CML Snider was a huge undertaking and I don’t think anyone else could’ve done it.”

Lindsay worked with The Lakeshore Track Association, the County of Prince Edward, Hastings Prince Edward District School Board and a variety of community partners to raise more than $140,000 for the Wellington track.

“Lisa is tenacious in everything she gets involved in and she gets results,” said Mertens. “It’s phenomenal that she’s here in the county and that we have her and so many people like her to do the work. In a place like Prince Edward County you have to rely on volunteers because the municipality couldn’t do it all, it’s impossible. Many of the things that happen here wouldn’t happen if it weren’t for people like Lisa.”

Reprinted courtesy of the Prince Edward County Voice, ejournalism blog created by Loyalist College student Nicole Kleinsteuber. Visit http://ejournalism.lcaat.ca/nicolekleinsteuber/