Steve White happened to be in the right place at the right time on a fateful day last year at Vanier Secondary School.
A supervision assistant at the high school, White was driving towards the building about to start his afternoon shift when he spotted two teens in the student parking lot. Alarm bells sounded when he noticed one of the boys was standing in a straddling position above the other boy, who was face down on the ground.
"It just didn't look right," said White, who approached the students after parking his car.
The one who had been standing was heading towards the school and told White everything was fine.
Unconvinced, White continued further down the driveway and hopped over a cement barricade, where the other teen was lying face down in a bit of a puddle. He checked vital signs but could not find a pulse or detect respiration. He then initiated chest compressions and summoned an ambulance at the same time.
White managed to stabilize the student until the ambulance arrived.
He described the incident as "pretty surreal."
"There was a little bit of a panic for a few seconds, but I managed to stay calm and did what I had to do," said White, a retired RCMP member who is grateful he underwent first aid training. "Just like you hear, everything slows down. It seemed to take forever for the ambulance to arrive.
"Luckily the young fella' made a full recovery. I'm truly happy for that because he's a nice kid. I see his face every day at school."
The student, whom he describes as a "bit of a shy fellow," thanked White a couple of weeks after the incident.
"I kind of look out for him on a daily basis now," White said. "He's a good kid, and the world's definitely a better place with him in it."
For his efforts, White received the Local Hero Award at the Chamber's 2011 Community Awards on the weekend.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before," said White, the second local hero recognized at the annual award ceremony. "It's pretty amazing."
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com