A Bit of a Buzz-kill
On Thursday last week, at about 2PM, I walked passed this guy who looked a little drunk. He looked in his late 40s, early-to-mid 50s, and like he belonged to the homeless men who spend all their time behind Tesco.
He was wearing a jacket (it was very warm out), and had his left hand oddly pushed into the jacket pocket. I walked around him, and the next thing I know, I hear this really painful, strange grunt from him. I turn to see him start shaking and then completely fall like a domino, face first, onto the pavement. Immediately, blood starts gushing out his nose. He writhes and moans for a couple seconds, and then just stops moving. I can't call 911, cause a) I don't know what 911 is in Prague (now I do, it's 112), and b) even if I did, I don't speak Czech, so I can't be of any help at all. Quickly, there's a pool of blood around his head, probably about 15-20 centimeters in diameter.
We're in the absolute center of town in the middle of a workday, so there are many people around. Someone eventually calls an ambulance, and cops nearby (there are always cops at this one intersection) come by and try to help the guy, but he's completely unconscious. They turn him over, so he's on his back, but it's incredibly gory - blood all over his face. He's not moving, completely unresponsive to anyone and everything. When they move him over, and raise his knees, he's like a rag-doll. Unconscious to the max.
It was a really disturbing sight... and I felt pretty damn awful walking away (my friend Ben quipped later that everyone deserves someone to witness their death), but there was nothing I could do to help. Staying there made me feel like a stupid gawker who had nothing better to do than stare at this man dying on the sidewalk. I walked away, slowly, and felt almost as if I was betraying the man.
So that really put a damper on an otherwise great day.
He was wearing a jacket (it was very warm out), and had his left hand oddly pushed into the jacket pocket. I walked around him, and the next thing I know, I hear this really painful, strange grunt from him. I turn to see him start shaking and then completely fall like a domino, face first, onto the pavement. Immediately, blood starts gushing out his nose. He writhes and moans for a couple seconds, and then just stops moving. I can't call 911, cause a) I don't know what 911 is in Prague (now I do, it's 112), and b) even if I did, I don't speak Czech, so I can't be of any help at all. Quickly, there's a pool of blood around his head, probably about 15-20 centimeters in diameter.
We're in the absolute center of town in the middle of a workday, so there are many people around. Someone eventually calls an ambulance, and cops nearby (there are always cops at this one intersection) come by and try to help the guy, but he's completely unconscious. They turn him over, so he's on his back, but it's incredibly gory - blood all over his face. He's not moving, completely unresponsive to anyone and everything. When they move him over, and raise his knees, he's like a rag-doll. Unconscious to the max.
It was a really disturbing sight... and I felt pretty damn awful walking away (my friend Ben quipped later that everyone deserves someone to witness their death), but there was nothing I could do to help. Staying there made me feel like a stupid gawker who had nothing better to do than stare at this man dying on the sidewalk. I walked away, slowly, and felt almost as if I was betraying the man.
So that really put a damper on an otherwise great day.
posted by David at 5:02 PM
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