Thread: The kindness of strangers

Today is 13th July and at 4am this morning I was just going to sleep after the most recent (failed) attempt to break the record for the most users online. Now I had got the date wrong initially and had stayed up til 3am the previous night as well. So when the record attempt came those of you I spoke to will confirm I was shattered. Worst of all I was working this morning. As soon as the draw was made I said my goodnights and went to bed.

At 9.30am, after 5 hours sleep my alarm clock went off and I forced myself out of bed and into some clothes. I grabbed some toast and stumbled down the hill to the bus stop. When I got there at 10am I found I had missed the last bus by 30 minutes and the next one would go in 20 minutes. It was a nice day so I decided to stay and wait. Nobody was about and it was a wonderfully peaceful day.

Now I remember feeling dizzy, and I remember thinking 'Uh-oh... it feels like I might be about to have a seizure.' You see i've had epilepsy all my life and although most fits I have are absence seizures I have had 3 or 4 'grand mal' seizures (the ones where you fall to the floor, shake violently and then become stiff as a board). This felt like it was going to be the latter but I never get enough warning to do anything about it.

T H U M P !

All 6 foot 7 of me went crashing to the ground right there on the pavement.

The next thing I remember is gradually coming too outside and my first thought was 'Why am I lying on a pillow at the bus stop?'. I then began to become aware of the group of people surrounding me. This thought then changed to 'Who carries a pillow around with them on a Sunday morning to a bus stop?'

I began calling for my wife because she has seen my seizures before and knows what to do. I was still completely out of it and was thinking that because I couldnt see her my vision must be impaired. It didnt cross my mind that she was tucked up safely in bed. One of the kind group of people that surrounded me (the MAN I was caling my wifes name) asked me what number he should call. I remember hearing him say 'I dont know what the local code is' so I presume he must have been a tourist. We get alot of them where I stay. Mercifully I was able to tell him my FULL home number and he soon called my wife who hurriedly came down to the bus stop.

Someone must have also phoned an ambulance because it arrived shortly after she did. The first person I remember seeing was my wife (I must have seen the other people but it didnt register) who was re-assuring as ever. She was telling me to relax and lie down but I was becoming aggitated because I was going to miss my bus. I had to go to work after all. The ambulance driver informed me I would NOT be working today.

To cut what is turning into a VERY long story short I was discharged from hospital at 3pm today having slept there for 4 hours or so. I have minor cuts and grazes to the back of my left hand and a HUGE lump on the back of my head my head met the tarmac. Gravity's a smurf.

After being discharged I returned home and slept again until just waking up now. It is 8pm. I can no longer legally drive (even though I dont have a car anyway). On the bright side I will be able to get a 1 year bus pass because of the disqualification on health grounds. That should save a fortune.

I write this LONG schpiel partly to let you guys know what happened to me today but partly to help re-affirm your faith in human nature. In these times where big brother is costantly watching you its good to know that some of the people around you- people you have never met (and people I will never know because I wont be able to recognize them from Adam)- are watching OUT for you. Pray that the next time you pass out on an empty street you are spotted by just such a person and that you too wake up on a pillow.