Heralded a hero for saving a young girl from a stampede of horses, Society member Calvin Stein insists “I’m just an average guy that did what anyone would do.”
A Hydro One line supervisor, Stein was at the Tweed Agricultural Fair last month when a string of ponies broke loose. As local media reported, after the ponies got away from their handler they ran into a vehicle, which further startled them and caused the ponies to bolt down the track toward unsuspecting bystanders.
Stein, who had worked with horses in the past, anticipated what was coming next.
Seeing a young girl in the ponies’ path, Stein says, “I basically grabbed her, and I turned. I knew that the horses were close to me, so I threw the girl.”
“I remember there was a car and a trailer, and I threw her toward that, hoping I didn’t hit the trailer. As soon as she left my hands, the team (of ponies) hit me.”
The ponies flipped Stein in the air and trampled on his back, leaving him with substantial but non-life-threatening injuries, particularly to one of his eyes.
“I was asked, would I do it again?” said Stein. “The answer is that I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
