If Nick Kerr loves anything more than baseball, it’s helping people.
So it’s fitting that the 31-year-old Victoria war veteran would be nominated in the Tribute for Heroes contest sponsored by People magazine and Major League Baseball to honour veterans and military service members.
Winners are determined by online votes at mlb.com/tribute. One winner will be selected to represent each major league team at the 2013 All-Star Game on July 16. Kerr is a finalist for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ask Kerr about heroes, and he’ll point to the guys who fought alongside him in Afghanistan for seven months in 2006.
“I’ve met a lot of people in my life who’ve done better than me, especially on the battlefield,” Kerr said.
“We’re all trained to do what we do — you don’t remember what you did until a day later, and you reflect on it,” said Kerr, who was unable to return for a second tour in Afghanistan due to an eye injury.
Kerr retired from the Royal Canadian Army after nine years and now is in the reserves, serving with the Canadian Scottish Regiment.
Kerr doesn’t restrict his selfless acts to military action. Last year, while playing in a Victoria-area softball game, Kerr and a buddy saved the life of a motorist who crashed his car after suffering an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
For that, Kerr has been nominated for a bravery award.
He also volunteers with Juan de Fuca ground search-and-rescue, a natural fit for a kid who grew up roaming the woods of Metchosin.
“He was born an outdoors person — he made forts all over the property,” said Laurie Kerr, Nick’s mom.
Nick grew up listening to the beat of a different drummer, choosing to look at situations from a different perspective, Laurie said.
“He’s non-materialistic,” she said. “He laughs and says I have way too much stuff. He lives out of little backpack when he goes away.”
Laurie, a nurse, and her husband Cliff, a career soldier, were very worried about Nick when he was in Afghanistan.
“There was heavy warfare at that time,” she said. “He was dug in and involved [in fighting] for some very dangerous weeks.
“He phoned one day and I said, ‘Your father and I have volunteered and we’re coming over.’
“He said, ‘Mom, please don’t. I have enough to look after here. Please don’t make me worry about you, too.’ ”
Nick recalls coming back to Canada with the rest of his platoon, which was based in Manitoba. He got off the plane and saw all the families rush to greet their soldier sons.
Then he heard the unmistakable sound of his father calling his name — his parents had made the trip from Victoria to welcome him home.
Nick loves to help other people and he’s motivated to excel, said Laurie.
“He thinks there’s more to learn, he thinks there’s more to do. I’ve thought he was a hero for a long time,” she said. “He thinks about the people who had it a lot harder than him, always.”
