Man sleeping in shop doorway.

Hi Hunterf. I believe a lot of us assume, because someone's laying crumpled up on the pavement, they're drunk. A friend of mine has Parkinson's, and in full daylight in a crowded place collapsed, twitching. For quite a time people stepped around or over him but in the end it was an elderly man who came to investigate and realised friend was not inebriated and needed emergency help, which if he hadn't have got, he might have died. After learning this, I will immediately investigate anyone who seems to have collapsed in a public place, because if it's yes, they are drunk...they will still need medical attention. In the end IMHO you did the 'right' thing

So true Goose far to many people presume don't they ? a long while ago I was at a garage filling my car when a young lad (17/18) fell to the pavement and people just walked past him thinking he was drunk or on drugs it turned out he was having a seizure and needed medical help it was only the fact that me and another customer called for an ambulance that helped him,I dread to think what would have happened to him.

A few years ago, we saw a youngish chap lying propped up in a phone box, HunterF. We called an ambulance and it was discovered he was in a diabetic coma. I'm really glad we did that instead of assuming he was drunk or under some other influence.

Years ago husband was suffering from severe ulcers. Whilst walking through a busy town one of them 'burst' and he collapsed, only partly conscious, with internal bleeding. People walked round him, thinking he was drunk/disreputable until someone who knew him walked by and raised the alarm and he was rushed off to hospital.

Well done, Frank - so many people tut and walk past don't they? OK he might have been drunk or he might have been ill, either way well done!

The 1 incident which I did find odd was an elderly man was sitting on a street chair when we were on my way to school at about 8.30am.
We asked him if he was ok as it seemed slightly cold ( not extremely ) to be sitting outside and he said he was having a rest and he will be going in a few minutes.
At about 4.15pm on our way home we saw he was still sitting on the chair and we thought we would go over for a chat but we could not get any response.
A couple of us stayed with him and one of us ran to a phone box to call an ambulance.
He was found to be dead.
We never found out if he had been on that bench for nearly 8 hours or if he had gone and come back.

Frank

That's so sad, Frank. About thirty years ago, I was driving from King's Lynn to Norwich when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man at a bus-stop suddenly collapse. I managed to stop and walk back but fortunately at the same time another driver stopped who turned out to be a doctor and put the man into the recovery position. I never found out what happened but I know the patient was in good hands. Another time, a leaflet deliverer was collapsed, writhing, on the pavement in our village. He needed to have some glucose sweets collected from his car because he was hypoglycaemic. You're right Frank - never assume that someone is drunk.

...as you say, Frank, each of us must look out for another's welfare.

Well done "Frank", it was indeed the right thing to do. So many are frightened to help now, in case things turn out badly.

Oh dear I had tried to make your name darker Frank, hence inverted commas. Message to self, must try harder.

annodomini

I assume you are talking about the man on the chair.
I must say the seat was not in an over busy area and I must also say I can not remember seeing many people sitting on it during the time I passed it going to school and going home.
Probably most of the people who passed him were going to work and he probably appeared ok.
It could always be said at hindsight we probably should have taken a walk to that seat during our lunch break but we never gave it a thought.
I would guess he lived alone if he had been there all day.
I think other people may have started making enquiries if they had seen him for a second time but I don't think anybody was really at fault.

Frank

What a nice lot you are.

important to always think it is illness and help is needed..

Many years ago I was visiting relatives in a seaside town. It was a bitterly cold November day and the wind was whipping the sand up from the beach over the road. When I arrived at the bus stop I saw a man slumped on the pavement opposite outside a pub and although my first thought was that he was drunk, the cold was so intense I thought I should try and get him to his feet and away from the seafront before he got hypothermia. As I crossed the road, a man joined me who said the man had been there for a while, so we decided to try and move him together. When we turned him over, however, the poor man was dead. He was smartly dressed and wearing a poppy in his buttonhole and we found out later he had just attended a Remembrance Day service. I still remember him.

I am afraid some police officers are not always alert to the possibility that somebody who is found collapsed, and who has slurred speech, may need medical treatment. I remember at least once case where a young man was left in a cell overnight and died as a result of this neglect. Even if he had been drunk, rather than ill, alcohol poisoning is serious and needs medical attention.
My grand-daughter has epilepsy (we thought she had recovered but had a major seizure recently, the first for ten years). One day she had a fit whilst her mother was walking her to school, along with her two smaller sisters and a baby in a pushchair. Several mothers going to the same school walked or drove past, without offering to help. Some did not invite her to parties or to their home. There is so much ignorance about this condition, which is not contagious!

On one occasion when I was taking my dog for his late night lamppost inspection I encountered a man sound asleep on the pavement with his head resting on the tyre of a van. It was bitterly cold and frosty. I took the dog home and went back to find the man. With some difficulty I awoke him, got him upright, got his arm around my shoulder and then we blundered off around the surrounding streets (several times) until we found the flat where he lived. En route, we decided that I was a cross between Mother Theresa and Groucho Marx. When I mentioned this to friends, they all thought I was mad and should simply have called the police.

absent

In that sort of situation I would have called the police as the man could have been violent.
Oddly enough my daughter was on a girls night out and she suddenly slumped to the floor and the medical services were there.
It had only started about an hour before and she had only has a glass of wine and a mineral water.
It turned out she had low blood pressure which was common in young ladies.
The police / medics were not happy about letting her go on her own and one of the other girls offered to take her home.
What did happen was the police station was nearby and they took her in and kept her till I arrived.
She had not committed any offence and I did apologise for the incident but the police said they were more happy to deal with somebody with a genuine problem than somebody who was drunk.

Frank

Greatnan

I don't know what the condition was but I know somebody with slurred speech but he was allowed to drive.
A drunk driver hit the back of his car and he was breath tested twice and the reading was nil.
The police officer arrested him as he thought he must be on drugs.
When he got to the station the Sargent was 99% sure he was not on drugs and they called a nurse who confirmed he was ok to drive.
The police just asked if he was happy to drive there and then and handed his car keys back.

Frank

I do know of someone who drank one glass of gin and tonic on an internal air flight and then fell down an escalator at the airport. He was an old man and he was quite badly hurt so he was taken to hospital. As his breath smelt of gin, he was diagnosed as drunk. No one noticed the medicare bracelet on his wrist that identified him as diabetic. Fortunately, the hospital staff rang a contact number they found on him and they were then informed of his condition so he narrowly avoided a diabetic coma.

Many, many (nearly 600) moons ago, on a hot humid Sunday evening, I was persuaded by my heavily pregnant young friend to accompany her to the chip shop (only thing open on a Sunday night) to get sherbet sookers for her because she was desperately craving them. As she was wearing her DH's slippers, her feet having swollen so badly she could not get her own shoes on, she elected to lurk at the top of the steps up to the High Street while I went into the shop for her Sherbet. Unfortunately the shop was crowded and so unbearably hot that I had to come out, staggered along the street and passed out cold at my friend's feet.
Frank your daughter was not the only one with low blood pressure!
My friend was at a loss as she could barely bend down, let alone haul me to my feet and just at that out came the congregation from the evening service at the 'posh' Parish Church. Oh how they tut-tutted as they rushed past us in their Sunday best, with muttered comments about 'drunk at this time of night' etc. Once they had all gone on their superior way a big old black car stopped and a rough tough young man stuck his head out the window to enquire 'Is yer pal drunk hen? My friend explained that I had merely fainted and the guy said 'Well we'd better get her hame before the Polis lift her' whereupon he lifted me bodily into the back of his car (onto what I took to be a furry rug until it began to lick my face), drove us down the road and carried me into my friend's flat. He said that no thanks were required just a promise to do the same for him or his mates some day.

I think there is a similar story in the bible. To thank my Good Samaritan I have never walked past any collapsed, comatose or obviously distressed person since and have come to no harm whatsoever while offering assistance.

Many years ago, eight month pregnant, with my baby daughter in the car, I broke down on the East Lancs Road. A passing police car pulled up and the officer told me, very abruptly, to push the car off the main carriageway then just drove off. I kid you not
A few minutes later a tatty old rag and bone van pulled up. Two Irish traveller types got out and not only helped push it off the road, but tinkered around under the bonnet and got me going again, then followed me for a couple if miles to make sure their repairs held. Yes, Granny23 Good Samaritans come on all shapes and sizes.

What an uplifting thread ! It is lovely to read so many stories of modern day good Samaritans. I must admit that on the odd occasions I have fallen or tripped in the street I have been amazed how quickly several people have come to my aid.