Member Profile on
G
len Villa was born in downtown Toronto in February of 1986. His parents left their hometown of Medellín, Colombia, in the late ‘70s due to the rising violence that plagued the streets during the cartel wars. They moved to Canada with hopes of finding a better life for their future kids. Glen’s path to firefighting can be traced back as early as grade 10. Glen was in class when news broke of the 911 attacks. He witnessed his teacher crying, while he and his class watched on the news as airplanes flew into the towers and the Pentagon. At the time, it was hard to fathom what was going on. As the days passed, he paid close attention to the stories of heroism and sacrifice that emerged from that grim day. Unbeknownst to him at the time, those events would change the direction of his life forever. Glen says, “I believe that in our profession, this is known as the calling.” Shortly after this experience, he applied for a 13-week Co-op with Brampton Fire and Emergency Services. “Back then, as a co-op student, you actually rode the trucks and participated in the calls. My very first call was a live hanging, and I was asked to hold
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BY TONY MACDONALD, RETIRED TORONTO FIRE CAPTAIN the patients’ legs while a firefighter cut the rope supporting him. We were able to save a life that day, and at the young age of 17, I knew immediately that I had found my purpose.” During his co-op, he remembers some sage advice that was given to him by a firefighter. “When you graduate from fire school, there’s going to be 3000 other guys with the same piece of paper you have. It’s up to you to distinguish yourself.” With those words and the vivid memories of 9-11 resounding in his mind, on March 3rd of 2006, he enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. He began the first six years of his military career with the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and was posted to Shilo, Manitoba. At the age of 22, he deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as a machine-gunner with the battle group on task force 1-08. Tasked with patrolling the PanjwayiZhari district, which sustained some of the heaviest fighting throughout the war, each day was a battle for survival. “The beginning of the tour was pretty quiet, and there were only a few gunfights and road-side bombs. Once the fighting season kicked in, we were engaged in combat almost daily. One of the most valuable skills I gained was in becoming a specialist in organizing chaos. The fighting season was long, and towards the end of the tour, 22 of my colleagues had already been killed. At times I was really questioning if I was going to make it home or not. In one instance, my Captain was shot and killed right beside me in battle. That experience weighed heavily on me for years to come, but eventually, I was able to spin it into positive energy that I channelled towards helping others and supporting mental health initiatives and fundraisers.” Despite dodging death numerous times, he says he gained an appreciation for life in Canada, and a perspective on our world that he wouldn’t have otherwise attained. Some of his military highlights include: - Representing his unit twice in Normandy, for the commemoration of the 70th, and 75th anniversary of D-Day. - Training with a multinational brigade in Galicia, Spain. - Providing security for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at Whistler. - Deploying domestically to the hard-hit areas of the Manitoba floods in 2011. - 14 static line jumps as a paratrooper In 2012, he completed his full-time contract with the military and moved back to Toronto, where he has continued to serve with the reserves for almost eight years. “Coming home was bittersweet, I was happy to be back, but it quickly became a low point in my life. I had lost my sense of purpose. When I was deployed overseas, I was halfway around the world, representing the will of the Canadian people. Every step I took could have been my last, and yet, being so close to death was the most alive I had ever felt. It was dangerous, but I was there to try to give people a better way of life. I learned what it meant to serve a purpose, that was greater than myself, and that was very rewarding for me.”
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