Forgotten hero in marine disaster honoured by Red Cross in St. John’s, N.L.

JOHN’S, N.L. — Forty-six years ago, Leo Bullen gave up his life when he offered his life-jacket to a small child as a fire raged around them on the schooner Delroy, sinking the ship and claiming the lives of nine people.

But until recently, the family of the Newfoundland man had no idea about the selfless acts that marked his final hours.

Chris Bullen, Leo’s son, approached the Canadian Red Cross after hearing about his father’s life-saving actions and on Tuesday, the organization honoured Leo Bullen with a posthumous rescuer’s award.

Chris, his brother Howard and their mother Hazel Bullen were in St. John’s to accept the Canadian Red Cross Rescuer Award in his stead.

Chris Bullen said the recognition offers some comfort for the grief his family has felt for almost five decades.

“It eases more,” he said, placing a hand over his heart. “At least now I know he got recognized for what he did.”

The award is presented to “non-professional rescuers and off-duty responders” whose actions have saved lives, prevented injury, or treated and comforted the injured.

Two other rescuers from the 1972 Delroy tragedy, Ray Berkshire and Loyola Pomroy, received the same award in 2013.

But 27-year-old Leo Bullen’s heroic acts were buried by history until a few years ago.

On the night he died, Hazel Bullen didn’t believe the news that her husband had drowned. He had only been assigned to the ship that day, and she didn’t know he was on board.

Since that night, the family had received scant details of his death, until Chris Bullen’s mother-in-law met a survivor of the disaster in the bathroom of a pub in Placentia, N.L.

The woman scribbled her phone number down on a coaster, along with a note for Leo Bullen’s son, saying, “Thanks to your dad.”

Chris Bullen, who was just two when his father died, has been in contact with her since.

He also reached out to the young girl, now living in B.C., who was saved by his father’s life-jacket in order to piece together the details of his father’s final acts.

The Bullens were surprised again when they came across the book, “Deadly Sea,” which chronicles marine disasters in the North Atlantic. The first chapter contained details they had never heard, describing Leo Bullen discovering the fire on the vessel, waiting for others to jump into the lifeboat and giving his life-jacket to a small child when the small boat capsized.

After speaking to other survivors and confirming the story, Chris Bullen approached the Red Cross about honouring his father.

Hazel Bullen said she was upset to hear information about her husband’s heroism after spending so long in the dark.

She said it’s still painful to think about the loss of her husband, but is proud of her sons for their commitment to honour their father’s memory.

“It feels very, very nice. I appreciate it,” she said.

Now a father himself, Chris Bullen said he feels a closeness to the dad he never knew.

He said he’ll be hanging the Red Cross certificate in his home as a constant reminder of the kind of man his fisherman father was.

“There’s not too many days go by that you don’t think about it,” he said. “It’s right there, in my heart.”