Nobody Cares

Nobody cares

Nobody cares. I know that now. The billions of people that populate this earth who are accustomed to certain lifestyle know nothing of true pain. Mobile phones, the internet, social media has blinded them to reality. They simply do not know.

I watched a man lay dying in the streets. What would have been met long ago with worried glances and calls for help, he was greeted by flashing lights. Blood poured from his skull as his body convulsed, yet with all of those phones positioned to film, none were to call for the help he needed.
I watched as only I stepped forward. Crouching down besides him, removing my own jacket to stop the bleeding. Only I called out for someone to call the police, while I began chest compressions.

A man was dying, and the world stopped to watch.

I never held too much admiration for people. Although I held the common belief that people would pull through, will come together when needed. Until that moment. And I was led to truly think … was it the mobile phones, or pure human nature?

People are supposed to be civil, orderly, yet chaotic in their ways. This however was a cruel, heartless attempt at fame: ‘see this dying man!’, ‘why did no one do anything?’

But it was once the emergency services arrived, that I really saw the disgusting reality of our society.

A woman, no taller than 5’4” attempted to disperse the crowd but was met with an unruly opposition. Grown, much taller, stronger looking adults screamed down at her, refusing to move, yet refusing to help. This woman tried to do her job, tried to allow this man some privacy in his vulnerable state … yet she was the villain.  She was somehow a threat to these … animals.

I don’t know if the man survived. I don’t even know who he was, what happened, or if he has a family. But what I do know- his death could have been all over the internet. That could have been how his family had found out what had happened to him; their father, husband, son…

I asked the women, ‘how do you do this job?’

She said she was used to it. That it was the norm. To be expected.

People do not care in large numbers. It’s always: ‘someone else will do it’, ‘there are other people here to help’, but no one thinks it could be them, no one even considers it. Not with the security of social media and their phones.

But what if that was me? What if I was laid dying in the street and no one was there to help me, but to film it. What if that were my mother, who has done so much for me and for the community, wouldn’t people help? Wouldn’t they want someone to help them and their families?

I didn’t know that man, but I saw his blood, his wounded vulnerable state and helped as much as I could. I didn’t do it for fame, for money or for recognition. I helped because he was dying. There was no other reason, no other thought that crossed my mind when I stepped forward or ruined my jacket.

A man was dying. And I helped.

But I still had his blood on my hands.