This Kid is a Genuine Hero

[Content Note: Domestic violence; abduction.]

We need more people like Malyk Bonnet—Teen saves woman from kidnapping
~@vandergraafly http://t.co/t701VGAXse #Canada pic.twitter.com/Gakj9VGrVk

— Love Honour Respect (@Halibutron) August 16, 2015

This story is a couple of weeks old, but I only read about it yesterday, thanks to my friend Elle. And what an incredible story it is: Malyk Bonnet, a 17-year-old from Montreal, was waiting for a bus when he saw a woman who looked like she was in trouble, with a man who was making that trouble.

"The guy was screaming at her, the girl. He wasn't really gentle with her, and I started watching, because I thought he would hit her, so I approached them a little bit," Bonnet said.

He said the couple asked him for money to take the bus to Laval, and he agreed to get some change at a convenience store and give them some money. Bonnet had a moment alone with the woman, who seemed terrified, he said.

Bonnet decided he had to help, and he was already formulating a plan. Even though he lived in Montreal, he told the couple he lived in Laval and would accompany them on the bus.

"My plan was to keep them in a public place, where there's a lot of people. I decided to make myself friendly with the man, so he would trust me. So I played my game," Bonnet said.

...Bonnet kept his cool, continuing to talk to the man as they took the bus and then the metro to Laval, waiting for an opportune moment when he could call police.

Once in Laval, he offered to take the couple to a Tim Hortons, and he even gave the man $50 to buy food, he said.

Bonnet's cellphone battery had died, so he pretended to go to the washroom and borrowed a phone from someone in the restaurant and called police, who arrived within minutes.

What Bonnet did not know throughout this entire ordeal is that police were already looking for the woman, who had been kidnapped by the man. He was an ex-boyfriend who "had already been found guilty of assault and death threats against his ex-girlfriend last year, and he was under a court order to stay away from her."

Bonnet's quick thinking, decency, and courage means he very likely saved this woman's life.

That isn't just my assessment. Lt. Daniel Guérin of the Laval Police said Bonnet "managed the situation very well and took good decisions that probably saved the life of this woman."

When police arrived, said Bonnet, "She was almost crying. She was so happy, so happy not to be with him."

Bonnet, who spent around $120 keeping the couple company until he could summon police, says he "didn't think I would see this money again in my life," but: "I mean yo, money ain't nothing. Food ain't nothing. For a life? A life is really more important than my money."

Still, the police "took up a collection to reimburse the money he had spent for bus fare and food that night. They came up with $255." They also "intend to nominate Bonnet for a provincial award for bravery."

Kids today. Get ON my lawn.