An ‘Everyday Hero' is a Canadians who makes a difference, but is too modest to sing their own praises. This week's Everyday Hero, nominated by a viewer, is a Toronto paramedic who takes the very skills he uses in his everyday job…to bring a glimmer of hope to those suffering from devastation.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 5, 2005, a deep rumbling sound could be heard coming from highlands surrounding the village of Panabaj, Guatemala.
The small, impoverished village, home to 3,000 indigenous Tzu'tujil Maya, had already endured days of torrential downpours that were typical of the Central America's fall season — but the saturated grounds simply could not take anymore.
As Hurricane Stan passed through Guatemala, El Salvador, and the surrounding regions, the 18th tropical storm in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the ground gave way, triggering a landslide measuring half-a-mile-wide as a river of mud poured off the slopes of a looming volcano.
The deep rumbling was the sound of water, mud, and sand, carrying tree trunks and boulders as it swept over the village, burying people and buildings in as much as 20 feet of liquid earth.
Local and foreign governments immediately stepped in asking for and promising to give aid, while the United Nations put out a “flash appeal” for about $22 million US in aid to the region.
But while everybody talked about how to approach the devastation, on the ground already were Canadians Rahul Singh and his crew of GlobalMedics — a volunteer group made up of Toronto police, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency workers — and with them, fresh supplies, including medicine and water purification equipment.
“I threw together a few numbers and got a few funders together,” says Rahul, himself a full-time paramedic with the Toronto EMS services. “That's all I've done.”
He's done much more than that.
Singh started his own charity in 1997 after his best friend, David Gibson, passed away from liver disease, leaving behind a not only a newlywed wife, but a legacy caring and compassion. He named the charity the David McAnthony Gibson Foundation, and dedicated it towards helping those in need around the world, by providing relief supplies and equipment to disaster zones — both natural and man-made.
Out of this charity came what's known as its operational arm, GlobalMedics, a lean and efficient ‘Rapid Response Team' made up of professionals who have experience in dealing with emergency situations — coupled with a quick reaction disaster response plan that would put the military to shame.
Through the charity, Singh negotiates the purchase of medical equipment and airfare at discount prices; he arranges local housing for his team of unpaid volunteers; and he trains on methods of purifying water using chemicals, which have also been provided to him free of charge.
He and the GlobalMedics are in and out of disaster zones before formal aid even arrives.
“You get there and you're thinking…'Let's get as many patients seen as we can,'” said Singh, explaining the mood when he and his team arrives in the disaster zone. “What do you mean we're only treating 450 patients today? We've got to treat 510. Let's get up half an hour earlier to get it done.”
To date, Singh's GlobalMedics have provided emergency relief to Sri Lanka following the 2005 Boxing Day Tsunami; the Pakistan following the 2005 magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Kashmir; the Philippines following a deadly 2006 landslide; and many others.
“Without their efforts, without the father of four who leaves his wife and kids for two weeks to go to Guatemala, there aren't 500 people getting treated everyday,” Singh humbly speaks of his team of volunteers without mentioning his own role. “There's not 50,000 people getting their clean water everyday.”
GlobalMedics' projects have now expanded to include medical training, the donation of medical equipment, and the development of schools and medical infrastructures in places where none have previously existed, such as Cambodia and Mexico.
Next month, GlobalMedics will hold a training day and open house at its headquarters in Scarborough, Ontario, where it hopes to recruit more volunteers to its cause.
“At the end of the day, it's when you kind of let your chink in the emotional armour show, that's when you kind of start thinking about it, and that's really the joy that brings it through.”
And that's why Rahul Singh is this week's Everyday Hero.