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Anyone who has It’s A Wonderful Life in their Christmas Movie Rotation is likely familiar with the fairly pivotal moment where a drunk and despondent George Bailey finds himself eyeing the icy embrace of a river under a bridge in Bedford Falls before being treated to some divine intervention in the form of Clarence, the guardian angel who eventually teaches him the movie’s titular lesson.
With the holiday season in full swing, it’s hard to ignore the parallels between what transpired in that scene and the real-life event that recently unfolded in Canada that has rightfully thrust four members of a minor league hockey team into the headlines for all of the right reasons after they stepped up to diffuse a scary situation earlier this week.
The players in question are currently teammates on the Brandon Wheat Knights, a squad you’re likely not familiar with unless you keep close tabs on junior hockey in Western Canada or have kicked off your virtual career in the WHL in the NHL video game franchise’s “Be A Pro” mode.
According to The Brandon Sun, Calder Anderson, Nolan Ritchie, Jake Chiasson, and Ben Thornton spent the evening of November 29th volunteering at a food bank and shelter in the Manitoba city their team calls home before taking a drive that brought them across a bridge where they spotted a man sitting on the edge of a concrete barrier.
Anderson recalled what transpired after they decided to turn around and park near the stranger, saying:
“I got out of the car and asked him if he was OK. He informed me that things weren’t great for him and he was having some pretty bad thoughts, so I asked him if we could get some help and he agreed.
I think the biggest thing in that situation is just to ask the person if they need help, and as soon as I asked, you could see the relief on his face knowing he had someone to care for him.”
The quartet was joined by another Good Samaritan who also stayed on the scene to provide some assurance to the suicidal individual who was ultimately helped off of the edge by police who arrived around five minutes after Chiasson placed a 911 call (a law enforcement representative told the outlet he has a history of mental illness and responded well to the treatment he agreed to receive after the team intervened).
Stick taps where stick taps are due for stepping up when it really counts.