This is what young men
are really made of 17 year old wins outstanding bravery award
MELBOURNE: 14 September 2010 -- When Sam Porter visited Rome,
and the Pisana, with his parents a few years back he was just like any
young 15-year-old; champing at the bit to get around and see the
sights, doing his best to get on with his sister, not annoy mum and dad
too much ... though already then Sam wasn't just your ordinary 15-year
old. He was already lining up to do a year's international exchange as
a student in Holland. His grandparents, Salesian Cooperators of old,
have spent many, many years working with young people in almost every
field you can imagine - scouting, student international exchange,
nursing.... it rubbed off on their kids, (teachers, scout leaders,
policewomen, fine upstanding members of the community in every respect)
and now we see how it has rubbed off on the grandkids too.
Today Sam Porter, by now 17 years of age, and son of
Rod and Marielle (nee Arendse) Porter, stands tall as the winner of the
Outstanding Bravery Award, Pride of Australia, announced in Melbourne
on 14 September. His citation? A violent June 6 bashing at a Melbourne
suburban train station ended with the victim throwing himself on the
train lines, in a bid to take his own life. While other commuters stood
by horrified, Sam followed the victim onto the tracks, dragging him
back to safety moments before the train arrived. "I've been brought up
better than to watch someone get bashed then take his own life", Sam
said later. "I wasn't going to stand there and watch him get killed".
Sam stood between the victim and the train, and walked him home,
protecting him from his attackers.
"I think the bullies were cowardly", Sam said, "I
didn't think about my own life, I just did what I hoped anybody would
do".
The Pride of Australia awards are given to ordinary
people who have done extraordinary things. The program was launched in
2005 with the aim of unearthing and celebrating unsung heroes.
Sam is now unearthed and sung! _________________ AustraLasia is an
email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in
Rome.
For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com
.
Use Bosconet-wiki
to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on
austraLasia
2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser
address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail
yourself of the Salesian
Digital
Library
at http://sdl.sdb.org
