DR. GRANT THE CHIEF HERO
The survivors united in laying such honor on the shoulders of Dr. James F. Grant, a 1913 graduate of McGill, the ship’s doctor, who calmed the terror-stricken, kept hope alive in the breasts of those who felt themselves bereaved of loved ones; who quieted the ravings of those whom the shock had, for a time, made insensible to those human attributes which make heroes; who went about among the rescued and gave them treatment, not only for their physical injuries, but for the awful mental shocks which had been endured.
Miss Grace Kohl, of Montreal, was among those who heralded the heroism of Dr. Grant. When she was asked to tell her story, she said:
“Miss Brown, the stewardess, wakened me and helped me put on my shoes and coat and a life-belt. I went up on the promenade deck, but there was scarcely anyone there. Then the boat began to list in a really dangerous way, or so it seemed to me, and I jumped overboard. I swam around for about five minutes, and some one picked me up and placed me in a boat. That was all.
“But there was something else,” she continued. “You must say something very, very nice about Dr. Grant. He was quite wonderful. The way he took charge of things on the Storstad and controlled the situation was marvelous. I think he deserved the thanks of every one, and there is no doubt but that for his skill and quickness in tending people, many more would have died.”