Good Samaritan

Today was an interesting day. Aside from being Zara’s birthday (read super nice, sweet, sad) and the day before my beloved girl Angel’s birthday I had something eventful happen today.

I walk, I walk everyday I can so I walk 3 times a day. I walk around my block. I live at the bottom of the hill, so I walk up the hill and then walk the flat part then walk down the hill and back up my road. It’s a massive circle that I can complete up to 3 times a day. All this on main roads.

So today, on my 3rd time I walk up my hill. I am minding my own business. I walk past the pub on the hill. Prince Regent. Then there is a rocky bit with an awful footpath where you have to be careful how you walk. Here I meet a man having fallen down this rocky bit and down someone’s front garden steps. He may have fallen recently (I don’t know, he last remembers leaving the pub 2 minutes away at 4pm and I found him at 5:15pm. He had a cut to his head. I called an ambulance. I stayed with him until the ambulance took him away. People in the village know him, he actually lives about 4 doors down from the location he fell down in. He’d been drinking wine and he was slurring, we don’t know from the wine or the fall, but either way the ambulance took him. All praise to the ambulance crew for getting to us promptly, for the good samaritains who got him chairs, and tissues for the blood and showed love and care. As it happened his condition was serious enough to warrant a hospital visit. He’d had a heart bypass and was on blood thinners so they needed to rule out a brain bleed. For me it was the first time I’ve really see someone bleed aside from the prick on the finger of my dad doing his diabetes kits. The gentleman had diabetes too. Bless him.

Everyone was perfectly lovely about the whole situation until…my mum. I told her about it in an “I did a good deed” kind of way, and she flew off the handle at me telling me I should have left him even though its one of the hottest days of the year and this man was 80 years old. (he had to give his date of birth to the ambulance crew) I didn’t know what state he was in, I don’t know him from Adam, I just wanted to ensure he was taken care of as someone who the child of the Almighty. My dad had falls when he was towards the end and I would have wanted someone to stay with my dad. Even if it was just to give comfort, and show care. That’s what humanity is. Not my mum, to put it savagely, now her husband is dead and buried as far as she’s concerned, screw the rest of the 8 billion of us. Apparently I could have just left an 80 year old confused man with the owner of the house he’d fallen into. To me, that is savage. The ambulance crew needed directions, they also needed to ask me some questions to gauge how long this poor man had been there (my guess is not long, it’s a main road and the way that cut on his head bled, the blood would have pooled if he’d been there for long) So I was needed until the end. No one else was, but I was. Or at least I felt needed. And felt compelled. I wanted to make sure this man was safely on board an ambulance and that that ambulance was on its way to Basingstoke before I’d have peace. That’s what I’d have wanted someone to do to my dad, so that is what I’m doing to someone else’s relative. Case closed.

My mum’s argument is that the neighbour could have been friend or foe so I shouldn’t leave myself open to him. But I should leave an 80 year old man open to him? What happens if the neighbour sees no one is caring for the man and tries to rob him? What if he mistreats him or misdirects the ambulance deliberately? That is someone’s loved one we’re talking about. Just in the same way as we always make sure friends get home safe, you’d think I was asking the world for making sure that an old man got safely into an ambulance. Everyone else who ended up helping me ended up leaving this man and abandoning him to me. I was the only one who stayed. Someone should care for the man and I was that someone.

I don’t buy the “be careful” argument as if I should only be careful when I’m helping someone. Last year January I went on a walk, there was a motorway bridge above me and there was a cat stuck up the bridge. I asked a neighbour for help. As it happened it was the cat’s owners. When I asked for help I didn’t go into the house of the people I asked for help from. A little girl answered the door and I asked for her parents, the dad came out with both daughters to go retrieve the cat from the motorway bridge. Again same thing, I told my parents, nonchalant. Then my parents went off on one about how I’m not careful. Remember in January 2021 we were still in covid restrictions, so I could only approach the people outside and again only because this cat,(a living creature) was stranded. I was careful both times and both times it resulted in one of God’s creation receiving the help and care they needed.

I shouldn’t have to justify to be kind to someone, to take care of someone, as a result I have a headache for doing a GOOD thing. I argued with my mum, and pointed out times she’d put herself in greater danger and she said I wasn’t thinking straight. I had a headache by this point so I let her believe she was right.#

These are the joys I live with. My life isn’t all flowers and softness.

Poor James, it feels like this post completely detracts from the fact that a lonely 80 year old man had a fall today. Remember that too 15/06/2022. I hope he gets better soon.

Grace and Courage.

Annetta Mother Smith.