No fear of heights: Surrey Mountie cited for heroism
(L to R) Solicitor General Kash Heed, Surrey RCMP Const. Peter Neily, Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point.
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Updated: November 23, 2009 1:22 PM
When a distraught 44-year-old man walked on to the SkyTrain bridge that connects Surrey and New Westminster on June 17, 2006, RCMP Const. Peter Neily followed.
The Surrey Mountie had been on the job about four years.
He had no safety harness and there were no railings to prevent a fall from the 150 foot tall span.
The man Neily was following stopped near the middle of the bridge and sat down, dangling his feet over the edge, holding a water bottle filled with gasoline that he kept sniffing and drinking.
He told Neily he was going to jump.
The constable kept him talking and convinced him to drop the bottle.
The two men remained there almost an hour before a trained negotiator, Delta Police Sgt. Shawn Gain, arrived.
It took another hour for the two officers to convince the man to get off the edge and go to hospital.
On Thursday, Nov. 19, Const. Neily received an Award of Valour, B.C’s highest award for acts of exceptional courage in the face of extreme hazard at the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General’s annual ceremony for RCMP and municipal police officers.
Gain was honoured for her efforts in 2007.
At the time, Gain said the people who were first at the scene did an “outstanding” job of keeping the situation under control, especially Neily, who had built a rapport with the suicidal man while Gain was making her way from South Delta to the New Westminster SkyTrain station.
dferguson@surreyleader.com
