When Const. Nicholas Brame ran into a Yellowknife home on New Year’s Eve after hearing a woman's cries for help, the last thing on his mind was that he’d receive any kind of recognition for his actions.
“It’s just something you do,” said the 25-year-old Yellowknife RCMP officer.
Instead, he was focused on one thing: making sure the victim, a young mother, would see her kids again.
On the night of Dec. 31, 2018, Brame rushed into the house and found the victim bleeding to death after she suffering multiple stab wounds.
“Const. Brame continuously spoke with her to ensure she stayed awake, minimizing the chance of her losing consciousness,” said Brent Fowler, who presented Brame with the St. John Ambulance Silver Life-Saving Award Thursday during a ceremony at the NWT Legislative Assembly.
Brendan Burke/NNSL photo.
June 6, 2019.
“He continued to treat the victim until emergency medical staff attended … ensuring the safety and well-being of the victim,” added Fowler.
Following the ceremony, Brame told Yellowknifer he “didn’t go in and assist her in order to get recognized.”
“But it feels really good to be recognized in these situations," he said. "It’s nice to be rewarded for helping somebody and making sure she’s going to be able to go back to her kids."
“The night of, I heard someone screaming for help and that’s what we’re trained to do, to go in and help people,” he added. “I think that’s why we become RCMP members because we want to go out and help people, so an award at the end of the day is amazing and it feels great to get, but it’s not something we expect at the time.”
In an interview with the victim just days after the incident, the woman told Yellowknifer she would have “bled to death,” if it had not been for the quick actions of Brame, who she said grabbed cushions and whatever else he could find to help stop the bleeding.
“I was freezing cold, completely dehydrated, blurry and wanting to do nothing but sleep,” she said in the January interview.
But, she said, Brame wouldn’t let her.
“He kept telling me to tell him stories about my kids and he would not let me go to bed,” she told Yellowknifer.
Bram, who has only been stationed in Yellowknife for a year after serving two years in Tuktoyaktuk, said it’s good to see the positive impacts of law enforcement being recognized.
Insp. Alex Laporte, officer in charge at the Yellowknife RCMP detachment, said Thursday’s ceremony represented a memorable day for the city's police force.
“I’m very proud, we’re all very proud of Const. Brame’s actions on that night and his efforts and his skills being applied to apply first aid and possible save a life,” he said.
The victim's alleged attacker, charged in connection with the incident, has not been found guilty of the allegations leveled against him.