Dutrieuille gets Award of Valor
SLIPPERY ROCK — Jaimire Dutrieuille's life was nearly lost.
It's definitely changed.
Now it's being honored.
The Braddock resident and 2012-15 Slippery Rock University football standout is receiving the NCAA Award of Valor for his heroic actions of May 28, 2019. Sitting on the front porch of a friend's house that day, he heard gunshots ring out. Dutrieuille used his body to shield a 9-year-old girl on that same porch, taking three gunshot wounds in the process.
One of the bullets went in his head, striking an optic nerve that affects his vision to this day.
“I learned how fragile life can be,” Dutrieuille said. “You can be here today, gone tomorrow. I was outside enjoying a sunny day, only to wake up in the hospital the next day with no idea why I was there.”What followed was a lengthy rehabilitation process.“My wife Laura and my daughters went to see him in the hospital that summer,” retired SRU football coach George Mihalik recalled. “He was in a rehab session ... Here was a guy who was so fast on the football field, able to avoid tacklers, now struggling just to take a few steps.“It got to me, seeing him like that.”The NCAA Award of Valor is presented to a coach or administrator, or current or former varsity letter-winner at an NCAA institution who, when confronted with a situation involving personal danger, averted or minimized potential disaster by courageous action or noteworthy bravery.The award is not presented annually. It is presented only when warranted. Dutrieuille is its first recipient since 2018 and only the 23rd recipient since the award's creation in 1974.“Jon (SRU sports information director Holtz) told me he was putting my name in for it,” Dutrieuille said. “I didn't know I'd actually receive it. I'm overwhelmed by this.”Dutrieuille will receive the award during the annual NCAA Convention's Honors Celebration at 7 p.m. Jan. 13. The virtual celebration will be streamed live on the NCAA's Twitter account and on the ESPN app.Since his recovery, Dutrieuille has been working with Team Braddock, where he helps kids in his hometown get their lives on track in the classroom and through sports.“We have an indoor facility now that has basketball courts and a room where we can help kids with their homework,” Dutrieuille said. “We're also getting turf so we can do some indoor football.“We're working with 10 to 15 kids right now. I'd like to work with as many as I can.”Mihalik said: “God spared his life that day for a reason. Duty (Dutrieuille's nickname) is showing us what that reason is.”Dutrieuille ended his SRU football career with 3,933 all-purpose yards and 27 total touchdowns. He ranks sixth on the program's all-time list in yardage and his 20 receiving touchdowns rank seventh all-time.“He was an amazing football player for us,” current SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “The heroic act that young man performed is even more amazing.“This national award shows what he's all about. The way he kept fighting .... is still fighting to improve lives ... is an inspiration for others.”Dutrieuille did not graduate from The Rock. He needs to complete two courses for his safety management degree and is now in the process of doing so.Taking courses online, he is scheduled to complete those courses early this month.“I know Coach Mihalik had a lot to do with that,” Lutz said.When Dutrieuille was lying in a hospital bed, Mihalik said he extended a hand toward his, telling Dutrieuille not to take it unless he agreed with what he was about to say.“Duty knew exactly what was coming,” Mihalik said. “I told him he needed to graduate, but it was up to him. I knew he wasn't mentally or physically ready right then, but I told him not to take my hand if he wasn't going to eventually do it.“He took my hand.”Mihalik said Dutrieuille left the university “in good academic standing.” Through the help of financial aid, Safety Management program chairman Joe Cali, re-admissions and the university administration, Dutrieuille has been able to take the courses.“A lot of people in a lot of departments made it happen,” Mihalik said. “The university as a whole was extremely cooperative.”And Dutrieuille is appreciative.“You go to college as a football player and the coach supports you throughout your four years,” he said. “You're done as a player and that relationship ends ... not at Slippery Rock.“Coach Mihalik has always stayed in touch, always there to help. He's still like a father to me.”As each day of Dutrieuille's course study goes on, Mihalik sends him a text saying: “One day closer.”The coach admits it's hard to find words to describe Dutrieuille's journey.“It's indescribable,” Mihalik said. “In one fleeting moment, he put his own life at risk to save a younger person's life. I mean ... how many people would do that?“If there's a graduation ceremony in May — and we're all hoping there will be — I will definitely be there.”
