Saskatoon Teacher Awarded Heroism Medal for Rescuing Student Set on Fire

A teacher who suffered burns to his face and hands while saving a student set on fire at a Saskatoon high school has been awarded North America’s highest honour for civilian heroism.

Sean Hayes, a 33-year-old teacher at Evan Hardy Collegiate, was among 18 recipients to receive the U.S. Carnegie Medal for Heroism for his exceptional acts of bravery in 2024.

“All the men and women recognized today risked serious injury or death, or were killed, saving or attempting to save others in acts of extraordinary heroism,” the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced on March 24.

The incident centres on a 15-year-old girl who was set on fire by a classmate in the high school hallway on Sept. 5, 2024. The 14-year-old attacker splashed the victim with lighter fluid before igniting it, burning the victim’s hair, face, and torso.

The commission shared an account of what happened, adding it was reviewed by Hayes.

The account detailed that Hayes was in the hallway when the attack occurred. “He immediately instructed a co-worker to call 911 and instructed the girl to move to the ground,” the commission wrote, noting that the teacher then got on his hands and knees and tried to roll the victim back and forth to extinguish the flames, but was impeded by her backpack.

Hayes proceeded to pat out the flames using his hands, but realized his own clothes had caught fire. He stood up, pressed himself against some lockers, and removed his overshirt and T-shirt, the commission said.

The Saskatoon teacher then used his overshirt to stamp out the fire on the girl’s body, and when it was damaged by the flames, he used a co-worker’s shirt to continue putting out the fire.

Most of the flames had been extinguished by the time a school police officer arrived at the scene, according to the commission’s account. Hayes then used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames that had spread on the hallway floor.

The commission said Hayes sustained burns to the left side of his body, including his face, neck, side, and hand, but has since recovered.

The attacker, now 16, was sentenced earlier this month to three years for attempted murder and unlawfully causing bodily harm. She is to serve two years in intensive rehabilitative custody followed by one year in the community with supervision, the maximum allowed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The victim, who is also now 16, suffered burns to 40 percent of her body. During hearings, her mother told the Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench that her daughter required skin grafts and underwent six surgeries in the first six weeks after the attack. Scars also developed on her daughter’s vocal cords.

The court also heard the crime was the culmination of a friendship that spiralled into estrangement, harassment, and finally violence.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the identities of the victim and the offender cannot be published.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.