self-protection vs. helping strangers

Every now and again the media confront us with horror stories about how selfish and uncaring we are towards strangers in trouble – not wanting to get involved, or expecting someone else to put themselves out – so when Johna found herself alone at night in that sort of situation, she was torn between an intuitive desire for self-protection and a rational desire to do the right thing.

"I was coming home from work, laden with shopping, and taking a shortcut through a park," says Johna. "It was getting dark but I could just make out a large object on the path ahead."

"As I got closer I saw it was a man's body and I freaked out," laughs Johna. "The first thing that entered my mind was that it had to be a set-up -- I was about to be raped or mugged."

"And then it occurred to me that the guy himself may have been raped or mugged -- or had collapsed with a heart attack or something," explains Johna, "and there was no way I could turn and run away because how would I like it if it was me, not him, lying there?"

"As I quickened my step to rush to his aid it then occurred to me that I had left my cell phone at work and I was going to have a lot of trouble calling an ambulance for him," says Johna, "and then I tried desperately to remember the first aid lessons I took years ago. OMG, would I have to perform mouth to mouth on him?"

"When I came close to his curled up body I called out 'are you alright?' and to my amazement he sat up and said, 'yeah, sure, I was just taking a nap waiting for my girlfriend, but thanks for caring all the same' and I heaved a sigh of relief."

"I looked at his young, handsome smiling face and thought to myself, OMG, where are the cameras?"

"Nobody in their right mind deliberately curls up on a path in a park at that time of the evening," laughs Johna. "The whole thing may indeed have been a set-up and I was going to appear -- without my permission -- on some reality show called 'Who Cares?' or something like that."

"Oh well, whether it was a set-up or not," laughs Johna, "I believe I did the right thing and showed a lot of courage in a situation which anyone, especially a woman, would have been advised to walk away from and get backup help before proceeding further."

"I may be an independent woman, but there are plenty of situations where I most certainly do help others -- and need their help, too," says Johna. "Had I been raped or mugged, or had I collapsed with a heart attack in that park, I dearly hope that a passing stranger would have done exactly what I did."

"In life and death situations, turning back to get backup help would have wasted precious time," says Johna. "Most people know the basics of first aid -- how to do mouth to mouth, get the heart going and compress bleeding -- and in my case I was carrying sports drinks that would have been good for re-hydration if necessary."

"Having said all that, I most certainly don't go looking for people to help," laughs Johna. "I was just the only other person in the park at that time, and had the young man been in trouble I was his only hope."

"Whether it was a candid-camera setup or just as the young man said it was," says Johna, "I'm glad he thanked me for caring because it's far too easy to believe that nobody does these days."