Dr Randolph Henry: Called to save lives

As a child, Bishop Professor Dr Randolph Henry loved helping others, and, having saved about four lives so far, it’s no surprise that he is being nationally recognised for helping a man who was shot multiple times and left for dead along Red Hills Road in St Andrew, five years ago.

“Growing up I loved people and from school days I loved helping others. I think whatever I do, even as a Christian, and as a child of God, it is not just to be a Christian but to put it into action,” he said.

The 52-year-old Kingston native, who resides in Canada, is among 232 Jamaicans who will be bestowed today with national awards for their contribution to nation-building, during the Ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honours and Awards 2024, at the National Indoor Sports Centre in St Andrew.

The proud father of two sons will be receiving a Badge of Honour for Gallantry for saving the injured man’s life on September 11, 2019.

The international chaplain was on one of his regular visits to the island when he rescued the injured man while returning from dinner with one of his former classmates, around 11 p.m. that night.

He recalled observing suspicious movement along the roadway. Unsure of whether it was a person, he and his friend quickly spun the car around and went back to get a closer look.

“So, when we drove up to the person and we realise that the person was gasping, we jumped out of the car and went towards the person and realised the person was bleeding because I saw a blood trail,” the bishop recalled.

Observing that the person was shot multiple times, he said he called the police and asked them to come quickly with an ambulance and proceeded to help keep the man alive.

“We tried to do whatever we could to keep him alive, tell him to keep breathing, stop shouting and that help was on the way, but he was just crying out for help,” he said before the police came shortly after with the ambulance and rushed the man to hospital.

Henry, however, shared that he never got the victim’s name and left the island the very next day and to date is not even sure if the man had survived, but plans to investigate as he wonders about him from time to time.

Saving lives is nothing new

According to the highly successful and accomplished bishop, who holds six doctorates and two master’s degrees, saving lives is nothing new to him.

The United Nations ambassador, who has spent over three decades in the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force and is a trained first responder, first saved the life of a woman who had fallen into a ditch while having an epilepsy attack in Montego Bay, St James in March 2007.

“She had two children with her. One was two, the other was about three, and I guess because water was running nobody wanted to touch her, but I had to do it because it is my civic duty,” he said.

Two years later, the Meadowbrook High past student said he was at the High Commission of Canada in Jamaica, checking on his application for permanent residence visas for himself and his family, when a woman collapsed and became unresponsive.

Henry said he quickly sprang into action to assist the woman by performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) while one of the consular officers quickly alerted an ambulance for the woman who had resumed breathing after CPR was administered.

When he returned to the waiting area and went up to the counter, his number was called immediately and the passports for him and his sons were requested. After waiting for a few minutes he was told to return for his passports.

He recalled being welcomed to Canada by the officer who told him that they had been watching him on camera. Shortly after, he migrated to the foreign country.

Humbled by award

Turning to the day when he received the news of his award, Henry said, “I was humbled and I didn’t really realise that somebody recognised that because there were other times when I had saved lives while I was in the Jamaica Combined Cadet and these would have been reported for acts of gallantry.

”When I heard about it, the first thing that came to my mind was the story of the Good Samaritan. A lot of people profess, but they don’t act, so when they called me and told me, I thank God,” he said.

The clergyman said the award encourages him to continue saving lives, which he believes is his calling.

“So the award is not something to show off with, but something that I will hold with humility because it tells me that I have done something and I can keep encouraging others to do likewise,” he added.

He said in society today many people, including Christians, will see others in need and turn a blind eye.

“People [will be] going to church and there are people on the road who are hungry; they see them at the bus stop and all on their mind is going to church and worship. What happens to the man that is hungry?

“A lot of people pass people who are hurt and bruised, but their mind is just on church and they are not exercising the Word and I think in what I have done, God gets the glory,” he added.

Henry is one of two civilians receiving the Badge of Honour for Gallantry, on the Civil Honours List. The other person is Jermaine Hurst, who demonstrated compassion and courage in preventing a potential victim from attempting suicide.

Meanwhile, the award is also been posthumously granted to Constable Ricardo Fairclough, who lost his life after confronting an armed man who had shot and injured a vendor in St Ann on April 15.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com