When Bishop Professor Dr Randolph Henry crossed the dais on National Heroes’ Day to be awarded a badge of honour for gallantry by Jamaica’s head of State, the ex-cadet, above the cheers, resolved that he would track down the man whose life he was credited with saving but whose name he did not learn during the fight to keep him alive.

The mystery man was rescued by Henry on the night of September 11, 2019, on Red Hills Road in St Andrew. Henry, who was travelling with a former classmate, thought something was amiss when he spotted a figure lying on the sidewalk just before the bridge marking the beginning of Washington Boulevard and the end of Dunrobin Avenue. On turning the vehicle around and returning to the spot, blood stains and cries for help revealed a gravely wounded individual. Henry sprang into action calling on his training as a cadet and kept the man alive until the police and medical personnel came on the scene. He was left with a face but no name.

“I am going to find out, before I leave, if the person is still alive because I really want to know, seeing that he had so many shots, and so on. It’s on my mind; I need to know,” said the 52-year-old, who was among the more than 200 Jamaicans officially recognised for their contribution to nation-building during the Ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honours and Awards at National Indoor Sports Centre in St Andrew on Monday.

The father of two, who resides in Canada where he is a lieutenant general with the United Nations, said on the night in question he repeatedly asked the injured man his name as he worked to keep him from losing consciousness.

“I asked him over and over for his name but I guess he was in too much pain, so I couldn’t let him feel any more pain. I had to keep him at a point where others could help him. I’m going to find out, I am going to go back to the police station and [try tracking him from there],” he told the Jamaica Observer after accepting the award.

He, in the meantime, expressed gratitude for the award while paying tribute to Captain Clive Levy of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force.

“He is the one who recommended me to represent Jamaica in an army exchange in Canada. I was a cadet and at the time I was selected to represent the Jamaica Defence Force and the cadets all because he saw the potential in me,” Henry said while naming two members of the Jamaica Constabulary who were trained by Levy and who were on Monday also presented with honours.

“Now I am a lieutenant general with the United Nations. God has been good, all because he saw the potential in us and trained us. He was rough on us but we all turned out well,” he told the Observer, beaming.

Henry was one of two people to receive the Badge of Honour for Gallantry, on the Civil Honours List, for having demonstrated remarkable courage by helping those in life-threatening situations. Jermaine Hurst, the second recipient, was awarded for demonstrating compassion and courage in preventing a mother from committing suicide.

Late police Constable Ricardo Fairclough was given a posthumous Medal of Honour for Gallantry. Fairclough died after a shootout with a gunman who had attacked a vendor in St Ann where he was on duty in April this year.