East Port-of-Spain has a reputation as a crime hot spot rife with robberies, shootings, drugs and killings.
However, while life is hard in that depressed inner city community, there are many good, honest people living and working “behind the bridge.” Guardian angels can also be found within that bleak concrete landscape.
Duncan Street resident Anthony “CD Man” Bernard is one of them. WPC Jack-Kydd and PC Deo, of the Duncan Street Police Post, can attest to his courage.
Bernard recently saved a homeless man from drowning in the East Dry River and the police officers assisted with the rescue and also rescued another homeless man from the raging waters on January 20.
The Sunday Guardian caught up with Bernard, 39, a father of four, while he was plying his trade, selling DVDs, CDs and flash drives from his stall on the corner of Queen and George Streets, Port-of-Spain.
“One day a crackhead brought a rope for me and told me give him $5 for it because it always had people running down in the water and one of these days this same rope will save somebody’s life,” he said
“One week after there were two of them in the river around 5 pm, one of them was running for his life, the water was right behind him and he was naked as he born and I was hearing some people laughing.
“I looked down from my apartment and saw him running, with a mountain of water about 15 feet behind him, bawling for his life.
“I don’t know if he escaped or died. People were laughing in the background. A man who was recording the scene said someone else was down there and then I realized there was another man holding on to a ledge.”
He said he threw the rope he bought from the addict to the man in the river and pulled him out of water.
Bernard, who was born and grew up on Duncan Street, said had it not been for the rope and the assistance of WPC Jack-Kydd and PC Deo the man would have been swept away in the debris filled water.
He said it was surreal just like in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami movie The Impossible.
Bernard said he saved another man from drowning in Macqueripe in the 90s.
He said he heard someone calling for help. By the time he got to the man, he was thrashing around wildly. He said he realised he had to find another way to save the man, so he imitated a dolphin, pushed him into the shore, placing his feet against the man’s back.
WPC Jack-Kydd said she had just taken up duty at police post when she heard screaming and loud laughter coming from the river. Then there was a loud roar and she saw a large wall of water coming down.
There were three people in the river, including the naked man who escaped the raging waters.
Jack-Kydd said she asked Bernard, who lived nearby, if he had a rope and they pulled out the man nearest to them. While she anchored the rope, Bernard secured it to a pipe and pulled the man up with help from PC Deo.
She said it was no easy task as the man weighed around 180 pounds.
The police officers also rescued another man on the other side of river. However, they don’t see their actions as out of the ordinary. Its just part of their jobs, they say.