TheRecord.com
June 24, 2008
Kevin Swayze
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE
Jim Enright's years of keeping his first aid skills up to date pushed him to act when he learned two people were trapped at the bottom of a muddy river in Cambodia.
"It's the training to take action," the environmental worker said last night after receiving a Governor General's bravery award during a Cambridge city council meeting.
Enright, 49, was born and grew up in Cambridge. Since graduating from the University of Waterloo in 1982, he's been volunteering and working for non-governmental environmental agencies in Central America, India and Southeast Asia.
On Feb. 3, 2006, he was on his way to inspect a project in Cambodia to preserve mangrove trees along the coast.
When his car came around a rural corner, he saw a group of people on the side of a slow-moving, tidal river. They told Enright that two people were trapped in a car in the river. None of the bystanders was doing anything about it, however.
Enright dived in and found the vehicle in 2.5 metres of water. By feel, he pulled out a woman, who was then pulled to shore by his U.S. co-worker, Ben Brown. Enright went down again and found a man and dragged him to shore. By then, bystanders were holding the woman upside down by her ankles and shaking her, trying to revive her.
"They don't teach that in CPR," Enright said in an interview after Mayor Doug Craig gave him a certificate of commendation on behalf of the Governor General.
The woman regained consciousness as Enright prepared to start rescue breathing on her unconscious husband. The man vomited and coughed back to life before Enright got started.
The experience underlines the importance of learning first aid, Enright said. "I was at the right place at the right time. We don't know when that's going to happen to us."
Enright left the couple in the care of locals after 15 minutes and continued on his way.
Ten days later, he was handed a newspaper story about the rescued French couple, who were pleading for information about the men who saved them. A telephone call and many emails later, they met in October 2007.
"They say we gave them a second life."
The steamy jungles and rough back roads of Thailand and Cambodia are a long way from Margaret Street in Preston, where Enright grew up and played hockey on frozen ponds. His quest for travel and new cultural experiences "is an addiction," he said. The spark was a field trip to India in his last semester at university. He was soon applying through the federal government for overseas jobs with non-government organizations in Latin America, India and Southeast Asia. Today, he lives in Thailand and is co-ordinator for the Mangrove Action Project.
Mangrove trees live in brackish, slow-moving water along tropical coastlines. They're being removed to make way for shrimp-farming ponds, rice fields and palm oil production, which is used as a biofuel to replace gasoline.
"Mangroves are disappearing at a faster rate than tropical rainforests," said Enright, who is now visiting his mother in Cambridge.
Since mangroves act as natural buffers between the sea and coastal areas, their loss leaves huge areas at risk when tsunami waves hit or cyclones roar ashore. In recent years, people have tried replanting mangroves in devastated areas, but the trees tend to die because they're planted incorrectly.
In the last year, Enright's organization has offered training courses to help people let mangroves naturally regenerate.
"We're promoting working with nature instead of against nature," he said.
June 24, 2008
Kevin Swayze
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE
Jim Enright's years of keeping his first aid skills up to date pushed him to act when he learned two people were trapped at the bottom of a muddy river in Cambodia.
"It's the training to take action," the environmental worker said last night after receiving a Governor General's bravery award during a Cambridge city council meeting.
Enright, 49, was born and grew up in Cambridge. Since graduating from the University of Waterloo in 1982, he's been volunteering and working for non-governmental environmental agencies in Central America, India and Southeast Asia.
On Feb. 3, 2006, he was on his way to inspect a project in Cambodia to preserve mangrove trees along the coast.
When his car came around a rural corner, he saw a group of people on the side of a slow-moving, tidal river. They told Enright that two people were trapped in a car in the river. None of the bystanders was doing anything about it, however.
Enright dived in and found the vehicle in 2.5 metres of water. By feel, he pulled out a woman, who was then pulled to shore by his U.S. co-worker, Ben Brown. Enright went down again and found a man and dragged him to shore. By then, bystanders were holding the woman upside down by her ankles and shaking her, trying to revive her.
"They don't teach that in CPR," Enright said in an interview after Mayor Doug Craig gave him a certificate of commendation on behalf of the Governor General.
The woman regained consciousness as Enright prepared to start rescue breathing on her unconscious husband. The man vomited and coughed back to life before Enright got started.
The experience underlines the importance of learning first aid, Enright said. "I was at the right place at the right time. We don't know when that's going to happen to us."
Enright left the couple in the care of locals after 15 minutes and continued on his way.
Ten days later, he was handed a newspaper story about the rescued French couple, who were pleading for information about the men who saved them. A telephone call and many emails later, they met in October 2007.
"They say we gave them a second life."
The steamy jungles and rough back roads of Thailand and Cambodia are a long way from Margaret Street in Preston, where Enright grew up and played hockey on frozen ponds. His quest for travel and new cultural experiences "is an addiction," he said. The spark was a field trip to India in his last semester at university. He was soon applying through the federal government for overseas jobs with non-government organizations in Latin America, India and Southeast Asia. Today, he lives in Thailand and is co-ordinator for the Mangrove Action Project.
Mangrove trees live in brackish, slow-moving water along tropical coastlines. They're being removed to make way for shrimp-farming ponds, rice fields and palm oil production, which is used as a biofuel to replace gasoline.
"Mangroves are disappearing at a faster rate than tropical rainforests," said Enright, who is now visiting his mother in Cambridge.
Since mangroves act as natural buffers between the sea and coastal areas, their loss leaves huge areas at risk when tsunami waves hit or cyclones roar ashore. In recent years, people have tried replanting mangroves in devastated areas, but the trees tend to die because they're planted incorrectly.
In the last year, Enright's organization has offered training courses to help people let mangroves naturally regenerate.
"We're promoting working with nature instead of against nature," he said.
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