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Dismissed as a drunk

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This morning there was an old fella struggling to walk.

He looked a little unkempt and was clinging on to a gate to stand up and he had weed himself.

Everyone was laughing saying it was a little early to be in that state.

He slid down the gate and sat on the floor, I must admit he was acting as though he were drunk.

 

I was concerned and a colleague and myself went across to check on him...He was a very scared, confused old gentleman, not drunk at all.

 

I phoned an ambulance and fetched him a chair.

We stayed with him until the ambulance arrived...I asked if there was any way of getting some information about his wellbeing after been taken to hospital and was told no as I'm not family...He couldn't even tell me his name, as he was so confused...

 

It has really made me think and I'm so glad we offered help...

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He could have been diabetic, they can act very similar to drunk people when in trouble.

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Good on you for helping when everyone else passed him by!

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I do hope the old fella is OK.

 

No wonder you are so lovely, Loxley.

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He could have been diabetic, they can act very similar to drunk people when in trouble.

 

I assumed that but the ambulance man wouldn't give any information.

He had a jacket and a thick jumper on...he was very warm and redfaced.

I didn't want to be intrusive and so didn't try to adjust his clothing, so I got a chair and he sat in a shaded area...

We got him some water but on the 999 call they told me not to give any liquids or food to the gentleman.

I just hope that he is ok and reunited with his family...

 

---------- Post added 28-07-2014 at 16:55 ----------

 

Good on you for helping when everyone else passed him by!

 

My point in this thread is certainly not for me to appear a saint lol but sometimes people do judge in situations like this...and sometimes it's not as it appears...

I think if everyone just did a little more to help anyone in need (even if he had been drunk) the world would be a much nicer place...

Edited by loxleylovely

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Loxley -- OK if you say you're not a saint, but thank you just the same for taking the time to help a stranger. I appreiciate the reminder to do the same. It's too easy to let fear or busy-ness make one walk by.

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I've once witnessed someone suffering from a severe stroke in a cafe around noon. He was babbling, leant forward and definitely looked like he had 3 bottles of vodka in him, I thought he was drunk and made a remark to my dad. Fortunately my dad is a paramedic and on top of that inquisitive enough to go over for a chat, he immediately recognised the symptoms of a stroke and got his colleagues to come over, they got him to the hospital in time for an operation but had already suffered severe brain damage.

 

The waitress later admitted that he had been there for an hour already and she had been afraid to approach him. I don't think she knows, but if she had looked on for five minutes instead of an hour he probably wouldn't have suffered such severe brain damage. It is always worth checking on people who seem severely out of sorts is the life lesson there.

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Good work loxley. He could have dementia, a water infection which can also send the elderly off the reservation.

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There's a lovely old fella around my way who appears intoxicated all the time, walks as if he's walking upstairs all the time and clings on to railings at every possible chance, fortunately though I have never seen him get ridiculed.

 

Hopefully it's not the same person, he's quite old, very slim and looks a little like Cain from robocop 2. Around Ecclesall Rd / Hanover Way.

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There's a lovely old fella around my way who appears intoxicated all the time, walks as if he's walking upstairs all the time and clings on to railings at every possible chance, fortunately though I have never seen him get ridiculed.

 

Hopefully it's not the same person, he's quite old, very slim and looks a little like Cain from robocop 2. Around Ecclesall Rd / Hanover Way.

 

Nice one loxley I thank you, I would have done the same x

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This morning there was an old fella struggling to walk.

He looked a little unkempt and was clinging on to a gate to stand up and he had weed himself.

Everyone was laughing saying it was a little early to be in that state.

He slid down the gate and sat on the floor, I must admit he was acting as though he were drunk.

 

I was concerned and a colleague and myself went across to check on him...He was a very scared, confused old gentleman, not drunk at all.

 

I phoned an ambulance and fetched him a chair.

We stayed with him until the ambulance arrived...I asked if there was any way of getting some information about his wellbeing after been taken to hospital and was told no as I'm not family...He couldn't even tell me his name, as he was so confused...

 

It has really made me think and I'm so glad we offered help...

 

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

Nice one Loxley, it is easy to dismiss your average, bumbling, incoherent person as a drunk, but things could always be further from the truth, diabeties, epilepsy, stroke and many other ailments that present such symptoms, even something as simple as a migraine can make you sound intoxicated, i suffer aphasia sometimes during a migraine... Good on you for stepping in and helping this chap, you never know, you could have just saved someone from lasting damage...

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The number of people who automatically assume that someone is drunk when there are dozens of medical conditions (some of them very urgently needing medical attention) which can mimic the same behaviours is quite astonishing. Many of them should have enough medical knowledge, like police officers, to not make those assumptions but sadly they do.

 

A friend's son ended up in a coma when police officers ignored his medic alert bracelet and neck chain and just assumed he was drunk when he was actually having a hypo. Thankfully he did recover once they finally got him to hospital hours later, but he should never have been put in a cell in the first place.

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