So, I helped save a guys life last weekend...

Last Saturday I got home around 23.30 after visiting my girlfriend. And, as I always do, I took Sita for a walk before bedtime. It's refreshing and helps both her and me relax. Now, I live in a rather quiet neighbourhood with a lot of families and older people. It's a nice mix, and I quite like it. But it also means that at that at that time of night, there aren't usually many people out.

It was fairly cold, about -12 degrees C (10 degrees F), but not uncommonly so for a winter in Norway. As I was walking along the streets I came upon an older man, maybe in his 60s, lying in a curled up position right there on the ground with a backpack next to him. Thinly clothed as well. I walked up to him and tried talking to him, but he was unresponsive at first. I tried shaking him a bit, and he came to a little, but it became clear that he was dead drunk, didn't speak Norwegian, and was completely incapable of taking care of himself. He just wanted to lie down and get back to sleep, which in -10 degree weather would make sure he'd never wake again.

So I did what I could and while handling the dog at the same time, I tried to get him on his feet at least, and after a bit of effort, I got him to stand up. He was still incoherent, and spoke what I determined to be Polish. I tried to ask him if he lived nearby, if I could help him get somewhere, or if there was someone I could call. While I was doing that a Muslim family who lives in the neighbourhood came walking with some suitcases. Apparently they had just come back from a trip or something. They came to help, and together we managed to get his phone out, and he managed to tell us the code to unlock it. Looking through the contacts (there weren't many) we found...no friends and no family. Just a work colleague, whom we called, who barely knew who the man was and was in no position to come to his aid.

In the end I called the emergency services as he clearly couldn't be left on his own in his condition. The Muslim family also remembered that there lived a Polish family nearby, so we took a chance and rang their doorbell, and they graciously agreed to let him wait for the ambulance inside their hallway where it was warm. And so we got him some help in that way at least.

I've had a lot of thoughts since that incident. One is that he was really lucky someone came along at that time of night. He'd likely been dead by morning if not. But more importantly, imagine coming to a country where you know no one. You don't speak the language. You have no family and no friends. Maybe you came because you had no choice. So when you're having a hard time, there is nobody you can call or reach out to. How alone he must have felt. No wonder he turned to alcohol to lessen the pain a little. And how important it is to be kind and inclusive, and to take care of each other. The world is a really tough place sometimes, and without anyone to lean on, we won't last. That's all. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far.