A young man who organized school events on mental illness and an orthopedic surgeon who assisted in Haiti during the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake were given awards Wednesday night by the Canadian Red Cross.
'This can't be the work of one individual, it truly is a team effort.' - Dr. Andrew Furey
Humanitarian awards were presented to university student Patrick Hickey and Dr. Andrew Furey, both from St. John's, at the Canadian Red Cross Power of Humanity Awards dinner.
Great night Wed in #StJohns as @RedCrossCanada Humanitarian Awards for #Newfoundland 2017 presented to Dr @FureyAndrew and Young Humanitarian @patrickhcky Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/4ojC3TNBLW
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@CanRedCrossATL
Hickey, who graduated from high school in 2015, was recognized with the Young Humanitarian award for his contributions to address youth mental health.
In Grade 11, Hickey helped organize an event at Holy Heart of Mary High School on mental wellness and later founded the Metro Youth Mental Health Committee, a student group with representatives from all 13 high schools in the St. John's area.
He also organized a youth mental health conference that was attended by more than 600 students from 30 different schools.
"This award is more than individual recognition. It's truly recognition of the community," he said in his acceptance speech.
"The community's efforts in mental health over the last few years in our province have been amazing, and it's this community that has taught me what humanity is."
Dr. Andrew Fury, who founded volunteer medical group Team Broken Earth, speaks following being presented with the Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year award. (Fred Hutton/CBC)
Furey, who founded volunteer medical group Team Broken Earth, was presented with the Humanitarian of the Year award.
He started the team in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and has travelled to the country more than 20 times since to help provide health care as well as training and education for local medical professionals.
Team Broken Earth has grown to three chapters across the province and counts more than 200 volunteer doctors, nurses and physiotherapists across Canada.
Some video from last night’s @canredcrossnl Humanitarian of the Year Awards. Again, congrats to @patrickhcky, the Young Humanitarian winner and Dr. @FureyAndrew of @TeamBrokenEarth, this year’s recipients. Also, great job by emcee @debbiecoopercbc. #inspiredCBC @CBCNL pic.twitter.com/U3SNscMuju
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@Fred_Hutton
In his acceptance speech, Furey focused on the group effort that is needed to make something like Team Broken Earth a reality.
"This can't be the work of one individual, it truly is a team effort," Furey said.
"I'm proud to accept this award tonight on behalf of the coast-to-coast collective, the family of volunteers, that is Team Broken Earth."
