The play of the week for the Calgary Stampeders took place far from the windy confines of Winnipeg’s Canad Inns Stadium.
Long snapper Randy Chevrier — a blue-collar player who rarely hears his name called over the loudspeaker — potentially saved a life far from the watchful eye of the blue-clad crowd.
The narrow 21-20 win over the Blue Bombers felt great. The save off the field meant much more.
“I really don’t want any attention for this,” Chevrier said Friday after a brief stretch and rundown at McMahon Stadium. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Try telling that to the mother of a three-year-old boy eating pizza Wednesday in a downtown Winnipeg food court.
In enemy territory, Chevrier, fullback Tim St. Pierre and defensive back Eric Fraser had decided to eat out on the cheap.
Suddenly, Chevrier heard a female voice cry out behind him. The nine-year CFL veteran whirled around to see a young mom frantically waving at her son.
The boy’s head rolled backwards. The Calgary Stampeder jumped into action.
“I just grabbed him,” Chevrier said. “I just did a two-thrust Heimlich under his sternum.
“A big piece of pepperoni covered in cheese flew out of his mouth.”
Mercifully, air started to flow in and out of the boy’s lungs.
“I stuck around to make sure he was breathing,” Chevrier said. “He sat with his mom. She was kind of crying a little bit. She was hugging him pretty tight. He was a cute little guy.
“He didn’t say a word. I think he was stunned by the whole thing.”
The mother told Chevrier repeatedly that just last week she took first-aid at a local college. Regardless, she seized up in the moment.
“I could see the terror in her eyes,” Chevrier said. “Freezing. Not knowing what to do. That’s what I noticed more than anything. This mom felt helpless and no one was helping. So I just helped out.”
In truth, Chevrier took firstaid lessons many years ago. His certification is not up to date, and the father of three realizes the need to change that. Pronto.
“The mom was all shock and scared,” he said. “I told her not to feel bad. I’m a parent. I froze in a similar situation.”
Last year, Brett Chevrier, 3, suffered a seizure brought on by a high fever. Chevrier admits to botching that emergency.
Thankfully, there were no lasting results.
“We were having a nice family dinner at Nick’s across the street from the stadium,” Chevrier said. “We could tell something was wrong. By the time we got him home on his change table, he was seizing up.
“I did everything wrong. I didn’t even know what the protocol was. I had no clue what to do.”
This time around, Chevrier had the Heimlich manoeuvre at the front of his mind thanks to a conversation with his road roommate. St. Pierre, a former Edmonton Eskimo, had just told Chevrier of his brush with death last year on the road in Moncton.
“I was choking, and Javier Glatt saved me,” St. Pierre said. “For me, it was broccoli . . . I was choking on broccoli. Javy, I was lucky he was there when it happened to me, and Chevy was there to help this little kid out.”
The Winnipeg mom told Chevrier her son’s name, but he didn’t’ quite catch it over the din at the mall. In retrospect, he is quite sure the woman didn’t realize the Calgary Stampeders jumped into action in her time of need.
Not that he cares.
“I literally saw my son’s face on that kid’s face,” Chevrier said. “I just did what I could.”