The Residents Action Group (RAG Security) named Christopher Morris and Enrico Gasparani as the 2025 Community Heroes of the Year on February 20.

RAG chairperson Anjela da Silva presented them with certificates and hampers as small tokens of their huge appreciation.

The two emergency responders averted what could have been a tragic incident after a security officer was attacked and shot at the Bill Stewart Nature Reserve in 2025. He was stabilised by Christopher and Enrico before being taken to the hospital.

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“We are deeply grateful to Chris and Enrico for always going the extra mile for our community. We truly appreciate you! Thank you for your outstanding, selfless service to our community – in this incident and many others!” Da Silva said.

On the day of the incident

Recounting the day of the incident, the responders said they reacted to a shooting that occurred on the corner of Florence Avenue and Kloof Road, next to the Bill Stewart Nature Reserve.

The information they had received stated that the security officer was in critical condition.

When they arrived, they started their treatment on the patient, looking for things like major bleeding, identifying exactly where he was injured, and looking for those injuries that needed attention immediately.

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The security guard had already sustained serious, life-threatening injuries, and the responders needed to deal with those immediately. Otherwise, Christopher and Enrico said, he would have deteriorated rapidly and died.

“One has to act rapidly with decisive actions. People normally refer to it as the golden hour, but usually these are minutes to seconds when it comes to bleeding. We would definitely call them critical minutes rather than the golden hour.”

Enrico said training and a lot of experience assisted in the situation. He added that South Africa has a very wide range of trauma, especially in Johannesburg, which they attend to often, and that helps with recognising critical situations.

“Good teamwork is essential to positive patient outcomes. Enrico and I have been working together in the community for several years, and we work well as a team. We have a good working synergy and know what we need to do to get the job done to get the best result for the patient,” said Christopher.

The emergency responders acknowledged RAG for ensuring that the scene they were working on was safe.

There were also CPF members on standby to ensure that the attackers did not come back down from the mountain and launch another attack or robbery. They also helped with traffic control and, in that particular situation, lighting.

“We were also looking at things like communications to ambulances and establishing a helipad/landing zone to find a location for the helicopter. Many hands helping, as drip bags also had to be held up.”

Qualified emergency responders

Enrico is an intermediate life support paramedic who works for Gauteng Emergency Medical Services. He attained his first medical qualification as a basic ambulance assistant in 2014 and then moved on to his independent practitioner qualification of ambulance emergency assistant/ intermediate life support.

Christopher, on the other hand, is an advanced life support paramedic who also works with Gauteng Emergency Medical Services.

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He obtained his medical qualification in 2007 as a basic ambulance assistant, with a master’s in emergency medicine. Since his qualifications, he has been involved full-time in prehospital emergency medicine.

Happy to serve the community

Being named community heroes was humbling for both Enrico and Christopher. Enrico said, “Professionally, it’s always great to get recognition in your career – it holds you to a high standard. It makes you want to be better. It makes you want to go to the next call.

“And it makes you want to inspire the younger generation that’s coming through to be able to better themselves and continue doing good work.”

Christopher expressed his gratitude and said he was a little bit surprised that RAG had honoured them in that way. “I’m just thankful that people are seeing the work that we do. It’s good to be recognised.”

Coping with the stress of being an emergency responder

When it comes to coping with the stress of the job, Enrico noted that a great support network, as well as trying to stay positive, is necessary.

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In agreement, Christopher added, “ Even if cases don’t go the way we want them to – if there’s a bad outcome for a patient – you can always take it as a positive learning experience to improve your skills and just get better at your job. That’s how I take the negative side. Then I have other outlets, such as gym and physical activity.”

How the community can contribute

The emergency responders suggested that residents can contribute by joining their local CPF, organisations like RAG or donating to them.

“Other things that they can do are respect emergency responders and the work we do. If you see red lights and sirens, don’t obstruct us or cut us off; make way and yield. Assist with scene safety.”

To young people considering a career in emergency services, Enrico said it involves a lot of sacrifice that is extremely difficult to get into and to achieve.

“It is an environment which is going to have a large toll on your personal life, and on your mental health and on your physical health.

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“But if you pursue it and find good mentors, therefore, good individuals that are like-minded with you, who have the goal of assisting patients in the best possible way, who are going to keep you humble and keep you on the straight and narrow, then it becomes the best job in the world,” he advised.

The emergency responders both expressed their well-wishes to the recovering security guard and encouraged community members to reach out for any medical emergencies through their CPF WhatsApp groups or via RAG.