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Stabroek News

Generosity of spirit
published: Friday | December 1, 2006


Heather Robinson

On Monday morning I received a telephone call from a colleague of mine who was on her way to work.

This mother and grandmother in frantic and nervous tones asked me to call the police as she had just passed a young man with a cable tied around his neck. This cable was attached to a utility pole on Hope Road, opposite Jamaica House. She was worried that the young man, who was dressed in underpants alone, was on the verge of committing suicide.

I called the monitor at police control and asked if she could dispatch immediate police assistance to the location, and decided to proceed to Hope Road. On my arrival I saw about four persons standing on the sidewalk, and a uniformed police constable. I stopped and came out of the vehicle and introduced myself to the police officer who was on his cellular phone speaking to the police. Two ladies who were there, had already started to counsel the young man and the police officer explained that he needed assistance as he could not predict what type of reaction he would get if he tried to remove the cable from around the young man's neck.

During the 40 minutes that we stood on the sidewalk, we all worked together as a team counselling the young man who could not have been more than 24 years old. It was amazing to hear how sympathetic and understanding these women were, as each offered comfort and advice to this man who was a complete stranger. Our constable and another man tried in their own way to comfort him as well, demonstrating what might be considered by some persons as an unusual level of care by a Jamaican man.

This young man expressed the belief that there was no point in continuing his life, and hoped that we would allow him to end it. He was an extremely articulate young man, who has the ability to communicate and admitted that he had been to high school. Placed on the seat of the bus stop was a copy of the New Testament, which appeared to have been well read. He refused to tell us his name, give us the telephone number of his mother or his address.

In one last attempt to get his attention, I asked him if he realised that he was in front of the Prime Minister's office. He said no, and he wondered if this was destiny that he had chosen this location. Would he like to speak to Portia, I asked. The ladies there told him that that was an excellent offer which he should not refuse. We all continued to speak to him until a few minutes later he voluntarily removed the cable from around his neck. Two ladies assisted him in putting on his pants, shirt and shoes, and after much more persuasion he sat in the back of the police vehicle.

The Half-Way Tree police were able to locate his mother and took him to the University Hospital. This incident has proven to me once again how much we really can care about the life of other persons, including persons who are total strangers. I want to commend Constable Bish from King's House, and those two Jamaican women, one who was on her way home from working all night, and the other who was on her way to work.

This generosity of spirit of the Jamaican people is world-renowned, and to see it demonstrated so clearly on Monday morning, was an excellent way to start the week. The next person whom you spend a little time helping, could have wanted to commit suicide, or may just be in need of a little attention.

Heather Robinson is a life underwriter and former Member of Parliament.

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