A Nova Scotia man who has received the province’s top honour says he continues to struggle one year after he pulled his neighbour from a house fire.
To acknowledge his heroism, Gerrid Hunt was one of four recipients to be given the Medal of Bravery at Nova Scotia’s legislature, January 15.
In an interview with Acadia News, he says the recognition was rather surreal.
“It was really cool having Tim Houston give us a personal tour through the oldest legislature in North America,” says Hunt. “It was cool for my family to be able to see that and be a part of that with me. It was kind of weird being a celebrity for a week.”
He says his phone was “blowing up” and couldn’t go into a store without being recognized.
“It just kind of reminded me how far I’ve come since 2009 when I got out of prison and made the decision to really change the narrative of my life and the direction I was going,” adds Hunt. “It also made me super grateful to a lot of different people that were along my path.”
Grim milestone and pushing ahead
It was January 11, 2025, when Hunt managed to get his neighbour out of his burning home in Lower Sackville, yet three children inside, died from their injuries.
Hunt says the milestone was grim.
“It was a rough day. Everybody was feeling that. I guess we can look back and see how far we’ve come. It’s not as momentous as you think because we’ve been having other struggles since the fire,” says Hunt.
Despite a GoFundMe raising more than $12,000 for him and his family, Hunt says they’ve had other hardships get in the way.
“We had transportation costs for my children,” adds Hunt. “It just got eaten up by bills. My rent more than doubled in the spot we’re in now and my house is less than half the size.”
He also has difficulty with the fact that he couldn’t get to the children in time.
“I don’t sleep through the night at all, but I definitely came to terms with the fact that even if I had of made it to the children, it’s very unlikely I would have made it out,” says Hunt.
His next steps are to try and buy a house.
“I’m going to try to not have to pay someone else’s mortgage anymore. Right back to life. Back to regular, everyday life.”
