Sask. music trio honoured for helping save man’s life

A family trio of musicians were honoured Friday for helping to save a Saskatoon man’s life in 2021.

The Honorary Testimonial Certificates presented to the group were part of the Royal Canadian Humane Association Bravery Awards that were presented by Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty at Government House in Regina.

Mirasty said it means a great deal to present awards and recognition to people who deserve it.

“It’s pretty special for us to be able to do this at Government House,” Mirasty said.

In June of 2021, a Saskatchewan Indigenous singing and drumming group by the name of Grey Buffalo was performing at the Vimy Memorial Gazebo in Saskatoon’s Kiwanis Park.

Grey Buffalo comprises Jeff Longman, his son Jared Bird and Longman’s cousin, Joseph Twist.

The trio was livestreaming their performance and, as they did so, they were approached by a police officer who told them about a man on a bridge who was threatening to jump.

The officer said the man seemed to appreciate and was calmed by their music and asked if they could play their music closer to him, which they did.

They had turned off their livestream by this point.

Twist said they sang the man a prayer song.

For Grey Buffalo’s efforts in preventing a potential suicide, their members were each given an Honorary Testimonial Certificate. Longman, Bird and Twist all said they were excited to be honoured.

“(It’s) very exciting and (we were) glad to help at that time,” Longman said.

“It feels very amazing,” Bird added.

Mirasty commended the members of the trio for their bravery and willingness to spring into action.

“I don’t think the vast majority of people look for recognition when they step into a situation that really puts them at peril,” Mirasty said.

“What we have here today, whether in uniform or not or civilians, is just ordinary people doing extraordinary things and I think that deserves recognition.”

Mirasty — a former RCMP officer — recalled how impressed he was when he first heard of the drummers’ story.

“Who would think that a cultural kind of activity would give somebody second thought to what they’re doing with themselves?” Mirasty said.

“Certainly it was a surprise when I first heard it, but then you start to think about it — especially if the individual is Indigenous themselves — how much meaning that would have been for them to hear that drumming and the song.”

Other awards were presented to:

• United States Border Patrol agent Keith Termine, who rescued a man from a fire near the Canada-U.S. border in March of 2021;
• Trevor Janvier and RCMP officers Colton Cassaday, William Picard, Mark Brunett, Kathleen Dawe, Heather Healey, Joshua Trefry and Jason Wiebe for their actions during an apartment fire in North Battleford in January of 2022;
• RCMP constables Kirandeep Gill and Christopher Young for saving a woman from a house fire in La Loche in May of 2022;
• Mounties Matthew Arcand and Sawyer Semenoff for preventing a man’s suicide near the RM of Montrose in July of 2022;
• Seidon Cozens, who prevented a suicide on a Saskatoon bridge in November of last year;
• Aaron Lange and Mike Napper for rescuing tenants from a burning house in Saskatoon last November;
• Joe Madden, who rescued people from a house fire in Saskatoon in November of last year; and
• Monika Holman and Amy Thorp for preventing a man from jumping off a Saskatoon bridge in July of this year.