Humanity & expectations
Welcome back folks! If you’re reading from the UK, have a safe and enjoyable bank holiday. Readers from other parts of the world, happy labour day, if you have this.
Back to the blog. If you read my last blog, you’ll remember the ending was cut short. I got to keep you interested right 😊If you’re yet to read it, go and have a read now. If you’re a little short for time, then the last bit read:
On my way home, I was in a tuk tuk alone and seen a woman flat out on the floor. I demanded 2 times the driver to stop and he finally did. All I saw was blood, and the local police, who eventually arrived, absolutely useless. Keep an eye for the next blog and I’ll continue the story
So, as I said, I was on my way home following a decent evening. Having flagged down a tuk tuk and a few minutes of haggling (this is a must), I got the dude down to 60bht which seemed pretty good. Turned out even better as he waited for me 10 minutes whilst the following went off.
I couldn’t wait to hit the bed. I was so tired. The last few days were catching up on me, having probably had 1 good night’s sleep since my last in the UK a week prior. The journey was going to take around 5-6 minutes.
There, on the pavement, I saw a woman running a few meters and onto the road, then picking up a motor bike. I thought nothing of it for a split second. As she lifted the bike, I thought I was seeing things. I wasn’t drunk but I did have a few alcoholic drinks but was fully with it. All I could see was a body, lay flat on the ground, blue denim jeans and not moving. The lady who picked the bike up then immediately after moving the bike, knelt down to the lady on the floor. I told my driver “STOP” he nodded no! I then shouted “STOP THE FUCKIN RIDE BRO, THERE IS A BODY ON THE FLOOR, SOMEONE COULD BE DEAD”. At this point, we had rode past about 30 yards. He then said “OK, we go back”. He turned the ride around and stopped a few meters away. At this point, the first lady on the scene was stood up and a few others started to gather around but not doing anything. A few brits then turned up which slightly made me feel a little safe and that I was not alone. My instincts and training kicked in immediately though. I asked around if someone has called an ambulance. Once of the brits replied yes, they’ve been called. I then immediately knew I needed to check if the lady was breathing. She was flat on her stomach and hair was all up covering her entire head but not in a normal way; almost a messy way (if that makes sense). I could see her back moving which each breath so was happy she was breathing. One of the thai ladies then knelt beside me and said lets pick her up and started to grab her legs – I shouted “NO, DON’T MOVE HER”. I mean, we had no idea on what injuries were present, for all I knew, she could’ve had a broken back. As she was breathing, I didn’t want to move her until the pro’s came. I then asked the lady beside me to start talking to the lady in thai as she wasn’t responding to me ask her name or if she can hear me.
In my little man bag, I took the decision to carry a little light with me which I carry on duty, it’s called lil Larry by Nebo. This is a quality piece of kit by the way and has come into use many times. A part from navigating through dark streets, I didn’t think I’d need this for such scene or even so soon but hey, we prepare for the worst. Anyway, I pulled it out, flicked it on and started checking her head for any wounds. One of the brits grabbed my shoulder and said “mate don’t get involved” – I politely asked him to step aside and let me carry on. I continued. There was so much hair to be honest, in a mess, it was a nightmare. I also didn’t have gloves on so I knew I had to be careful about. Instead of putting my hands on her scalp, I was just moving my fingers through her hair so I got a glimpse of any cuts, wounds etc. As made my way through her head, I saw a huge wound around her crown area. It looked like a lot of blood had come out but at that time, it was seeping but still needed covering. I turned around and asked someone to get something clean to put onto her head. One of the locals said she will quickly get a clean towel from the restaurant. I said thank you. I then asked the thai lady, who was knelt down earlier, now standing, if she can apply pressure to the would whilst I check the other side. We began to swap places at which point, the lady on the floor began to move her head and attempting to get up. She did so very quick, out of shock likely. I said please don’t move. I don’t think she had a clue what I was saying. One of the thai ladies then said something in thai, I’m guessing she was translating. What happened next almost made my heart stop. Call 2 ambulances ha-ha!
A local bloke who was also on scene, pulled the injured lady back down and said “don’t move, come down”. What the fuck!! No care in the world. The injured ladies head was travelling fast, fast to the ground: CONCRETE ground. For fucks sake. She’d have had another wound at the very least if I didn’t put my hand quickly under her head, just before she impacted on the ground. I waved the man to go away. He did. I think at that point he realised what he did.
We were maybe 5 minutes into me arriving. Ambulance had still not arrived. The police however, arrived. As a member of the UK Police, I thought, yes! Finally, police have arrived and they can maybe take over from me here and better off, apply some first aid! In the UK, this would have happened and the police would conduct first aid prior to ambulance arriving!
I looked up and there were 2 cops. One was talking to a local thai. The other was stood there, arms folded looking down. I stood up and asked him if he had any first aid. He looked at me as if I was a ghost. I then said “bandages – you have bandages” he nodded no! I then put my hand on my head, towards my crown telling him she has a wound on her head which needs pressure. He point blank looked at me, nodded and said “no, we do nothing!” I was fuming. I could not believe a police officer was not going to help. I had to calm down, remembering where I was, in another country with no support of the authority. One of the brits who was there from the beginning came over and patted me on the back saying well done and you couldn’t have done any more. He then also told me to leave it now as the police will think I’m involved and the fact they don’t care about their own people, why should you (as in me). I mean, for me, regardless of country, age, sex, colour, religion etc, the person was a human and help was needed. Some walk towards the face of danger / trouble and help, some walk away! For me, it’s pretty simple, I cannot stand and watch or walk away! It was just disappointing for me to have the expectation when the police arrived, for them to support me or better that, take over – how wrong could I have been. Luckily, the ambulance arrived immediately after the brit had that chat with me. I told the ambulance driver where she had the wound in her head and the fact, I don’t know what other injuries she has. But even the ambulance, they seemed pretty hesitant!
My time there was done, I decided to leave and looked around for my initial driver. Few of the brits shook my hand as well as a hug from the thai lady who was first on scene. My driver called me over and surprisingly to me, he shook my hand and said thank you to me.
I guess going into any situation, expecting the best out of people is normal, we are human. But lets also not rely on that expectation!
If you were expecting a cool blog about thai beaches, strips, bars, lagoons etc – sorry to disappoint but I will get that in later in the month or 2. If you’re a regular reader, you know I write about life, reality and experiences. This was just another experience.
I do hope you enjoyed this and once again, thank you for reading 😊
