Guest commentary by HESTON CORBIE
Today's (Friday's) newspaper reports a middle-aged pedestrian, Lalchan Sookhai, collapsed on a Curepe footpath during Thursday's broiling noonday heat. Apparently, he had suffered a heart attack.
Curepe is chock-full of doctors' offices and other professional, medical institutions; notable among these would be St. Augustine Private Hospital, Medical Associates and Mt Hope Medical Complex; all of them are a stone's throw away.
Heston Corbie | 69 Prizgar Lands, Laventille.
hestoncorbie@gmail.com
Today's (Friday's) newspaper reports a middle-aged pedestrian, Lalchan Sookhai, collapsed on a Curepe footpath during Thursday's broiling noonday heat. Apparently, he had suffered a heart attack.
Curepe is chock-full of doctors' offices and other professional, medical institutions; notable among these would be St. Augustine Private Hospital, Medical Associates and Mt Hope Medical Complex; all of them are a stone's throw away.
The Priority Bus Route neatly cuts through the area; it offers traffic-free access almost to the doors of every one of these places of refuge, in life-threatening emergencies similar to what hit Lalchan Sookhai.
Yet, Lalchan Sookhai was left to die on the baking, concrete slab. No one at the scene measured him as a human being worthy of being picked up immediately and rushed to any of the many nearby places wherelifesaving, professional assistance was available.
So, Lalchan Sookhai died...his vital signs slipped away irreversibly on the blisteringly hot Curepe concrete...under the cold glaze of citizens who had done their duty of calling the ambulance...and idling till it arrived.
The newspaper headline matter-of-factly reported: "Man dies after hour-long wait for ambulance".
What?
It's "the authorities" fault?
What manner of heartless beasts have we become?
The more appropriate headline would have been: "No one lifted a finger to help."
Would anyone reading this look forward to a similar crowd response in the event some life-threatening symptom suddenly hits them as it hit Lalchan Sookhai?
May he rest in peace and may the manner of his passing awaken The Good Samaritan within.
Yet, Lalchan Sookhai was left to die on the baking, concrete slab. No one at the scene measured him as a human being worthy of being picked up immediately and rushed to any of the many nearby places wherelifesaving, professional assistance was available.
So, Lalchan Sookhai died...his vital signs slipped away irreversibly on the blisteringly hot Curepe concrete...under the cold glaze of citizens who had done their duty of calling the ambulance...and idling till it arrived.
The newspaper headline matter-of-factly reported: "Man dies after hour-long wait for ambulance".
What?
It's "the authorities" fault?
What manner of heartless beasts have we become?
The more appropriate headline would have been: "No one lifted a finger to help."
Would anyone reading this look forward to a similar crowd response in the event some life-threatening symptom suddenly hits them as it hit Lalchan Sookhai?
May he rest in peace and may the manner of his passing awaken The Good Samaritan within.
hestoncorbie@gmail.com
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