Tonight as I was leaving work and catching the bus I ran into a situation which brought home to me how frail our lives can be at times. As I approached the bus stop I noticed that there was this old guy lying near the side of the road. It didn't look like he had just fallen over so, as I seemed to be the first person there, I wondered how many other people had just walked by thinking he was drunk or something.

As I wondered what to do a few other people came up and luckily someone knew the emergency number for mobiles (112 as it turns out) I rang for an ambulance and then waited there as the dispatcher asked me some questions about how he was (yes he had a strong pulse, yes he was breathing regularly, yes turning him on his side would be a good idea), all things I should have thought of. Of course realizing that thaty metal medi bracelet might have been important would have been a good thing to tell them too.

Eventually the ambos arrived and got to work. It turned out he was suffering from low blood sugar so they proceeded to give him glucose.

For the ambos it was probably just another day at the office but for me brushing up against how frail life really is made my own petty concerns seem unimportant. I got on my bus and left the ambos to their task. I didn't know this man's name and he doesn't know mine. I wonder if I'll see him in heaven?

posted by Peter at 6:48 PM

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