Not Many Good Samaritans Here Then.
Hi,
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Well, Christmas is coming, and we are in the season of goodwill towards all men….not!
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Because I have a chastening Christmas story to tell you today.
Are you sitting comfortably.
Then I’ll begin.
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This week, in Wiltshire, there was 77 year old retired gardener, called Brian Courtney.
He decided to drive into the centre of Salisbury in order to visit a Medical Centre near to the main High Street.
He left his car in a parking place and began to walk to the surgery, which was only a short distance away.
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Suddenly, on this busy main road full of shops and businesses, he collapsed and fell to the pavement, unconscious.
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So, you would imagine that someone in the passing crowds would render assistance and call for help immediately.
Unbelievably, although it is estimated that hundreds of pedestrians passed by the old man, there was no-one who took any notice at all of the body lying there.
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It was between four and five hours later that someone finally noticed his predicament and summoned the emergency services.
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During those long hours the man had lain ignored, in almost freezing temperatures, while he succumbed to hypothermia and was near to dying.
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When help arrived, the freezing great grandfather was rushed into hospital, and then into intensive care, where he still remains.
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It is not certain yet whether he will eventually make a full recovery from his long ordeal.
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The whole episode is preposterous.
Are we all so far gone nowadays that we have no care for others anymore, and no interest.
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What price Christmas spirit now then!
Any comments?
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sad. very sad to hear. not new, unfortunately, and quite common in places where the population is a bit large and folk don’t know one another too well.
It’s a psychologically analyzed phenomenon called the bystander effect, or, Genovese syndrome.
more info > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect
i often recall this effect when awful bylaws or certain high level political misbehavior comes to light and the crowd does nothing. we’ve become to consumed with the little shiny things and worrying about our positions to say anything. so when a man goes down, people are automatically blocking that and moving on assuming “surely someone has called already”. The bystander effect multiplied by millions is a worrisome thing. and the sad occurrence at Wiltshire is a micro occurrence, and reflective of this trend.
I hope the man recovers and does so soon to enjoy holidays with his family.
nelly.
Ta Nelly,
Most interesting!
x