Faron Hall is a hero for rescuing teen from Red River in Winnipeg
Hero saves teen in river - Homeless man risks life after he saw male jump
By JASON HALSTEAD, SUN MEDIA - 5th May 2009
A homeless Winnipeg man is being hailed as a hero after pulling a teenager from the Red River, which is still swift and swollen from floodwaters.
Farron Hall points out the spot where a teen fell from the Provencher Bridge Sunday afternoon. (CBC)
A homeless Winnipeg man risked his life to save a teenager from the Red River on Sunday afternoon.
Faron Hall, 44, who lives on the banks of the Red in St. Boniface, said he saw the male teen fall from the Provencher Bridge above where he was sitting with friend Wayne Spence. Hall said the teen appeared to jump.
"He was saying, 'It's cold! Help me!' and I just threw off my backpack and ran down and dived in," said Hall, who is originally from Dakota Tipi First Nation but mostly grew up in foster care in Winnipeg.
Hall said he managed to get a grip of the teen about 30 metres from the bank but was afraid both would be swept away by the rapid, cold waters.
"He was fighting me and I told him, 'Don't fight me! I'm trying to save you. Otherwise we're both going to drown'," Hall said. "He was pushing me under and I had to slap him in the head. I hated to do it, but I said, 'I'll bring us to shore. Just trust me.' He went limp and I got him to the grass."
Hall said his friend Spence helped pull the exhausted and freezing Hall and the teen out.
"The firefighters said to me, 'You're a hero, you saved a life'." Hall said. "I said, 'Well, possibly, but can I get a blanket? I'm kind of cold.' "
Hall downplayed the hero tag.
"I don't think I'm a hero. I'm just a human being," he said yesterday.
Hall was transported to St. Boniface General Hospital -- along with the teen, whose condition is unknown -- where he warmed up for several hours before being released. Before leaving the hospital, he visited the teen he pulled from the river.
"I just asked him, 'Why?' That's all I said to him," Hall said. "He just said he was sorry."
Hall said he'd like to see the teen and his family in the future.
"I'm not ever going to forget what I saw," Hall said of the incident. "That boy's got his whole life ahead of him."
Hall is no stranger to tragedy. His sister Kristi Hall, 36, was stabbed to death in a random attack in July 2007 in the North End.
"Maybe that's why I didn't want to let anyone else die," he said of the river rescue.
Hall, who has been homeless for about seven years, said he spent Sunday night at the Main Street Project shelter on Martha Street but sleeps year-round along the banks of the Red near the rescue spot, where he said he plans to continue living.
"I just do my own thing," Hall said. "I don't bother anybody."
After graduating high school, Hall said he worked as a teacher's aide while studying education at the University of Manitoba for two years before his life took a turn for the worse.
"That's when I hit alcoholism," Hall said. "I've had so many pitfalls in my life."
Hall said he last worked on construction jobs in Saskatchewan before returning to Winnipeg about 10 years ago.
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Homeless man in Winnipeg jumps into river to save teen
May 4, 2009
A homeless Winnipeg man is being hailed as a hero after pulling a teenager from the Red River, which is still swift and swollen from floodwaters.
The teen fell from the Provencher Bridge Sunday afternoon after he and a group of other boys were running across the bridge, dodging traffic and hopping over the railings between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
The teen then tried to leap across a gap from the traffic lanes to the adjacent pedestrian bridge, but didn't make it.
Farron Hall and his friend Wayne Spence heard the screams from their makeshift home on the riverbank.
Hall threw off his backpack and jumped into the cold water. Swimming against the current, he screamed at the boy not to give up, he told CBC News in an exclusive interview.
"I just dove into the river and I had to swim all the way over there on an angle, 'cause the current was carrying him downstream," Hall said.
After fighting the current, Hall had to struggle with the boy.
"He was panicking. He was pushing me under water," he said. "That's when I had to kind of belt him in the head and say, 'Hey don't, otherwise we both aren't going to make it.'"
Hall then told the boy, "Turn over on your back. Turn over on your back. I know it's cold. I'll get us to shore," he said.
"He kept kicking his feet. He said, 'I'm cold. I'm cold.' I dragged him right here," Hall said, pointing to a spot at the edge of the river.
Marion Willis was walking on the bridge when she witnessed the event. She said the teen "took a flying leap" in an attempt to jump from the traffic bridge.
"He went down with such a force that we all thought this is not a rescue, this is a recovery," she said. "We actually heard him hit something before he hit the water."
"I thought he died, too," said Spence.
Meal and a warm bath
Willis was so moved by the actions of the homeless men that she opened her home to them. She gave Spence a meal and clean clothes, and let him have a warm bath.
Hall was unable to enjoy the hospitality because he was in the hospital being checked over by doctors.
The teen was also taken to hospital by an ambulance that had been called by other witnesses. His condition is not known.
Hall said he hopes to meet the teen, while Willis said she hopes to help the men find a better place to live.