Headmaster's Weekly Newsletter -- Week 26

It all happened very quickly.

 

My daughter and I were waiting outside Sobey’s in the car when an elderly woman tripped forward, crashing her head into a parked car and landing hard onto the pavement.  We rushed out to help her, all our first aid training kicking into gear. Being the first to the scene and the only ones to witness her fall, we took charge. She was conscious but clearly in pain and shock. As a small crowd gathered around us it was clear that she was embarrassed too. She said her name was C…

 

As we attended to her and called her son and then for an ambulance, a woman in the crowd handed us a fleece blanket. I wrapped it around C…, noticing that it was very soft and in a Nova Scotia tartan print.  It was perfect, like a warm and fleecy Nova Scotia hug should be. I could feel C… relax.

 

The ambulance came quickly, and the attendants were friendly and professional. After we lifted C… onto the gurney I looked for the woman who had given me the blanket. I could not see her. Someone in the crowd said she had gotten back into her car and left.

 

I hear daily from students and staff and parents about how lucky we are to be in Nova Scotia. This last year has been challenging for all of us, but in some ways the pandemic has exposed the warm heart of this province and Atlantic Canadians in general. I don’t know who this woman was who gave me her Nova Scotia tartan blanket for C… but I am beyond grateful for her act of generosity, and beyond proud that there are people in our community who are so thoughtful and generous.