Recent Excitement

Well, a BIG congratulations to Kristy and Graham on the successful delivery of Norah Marie Friesen yesterday, March 15th! Although 9 1/2 weeks early, Norah is doing well. If you are someone who prays, please keep this family in your prayers for the next while.

After a lot of worry with yesterday's events, it was followed up by another event this evening.

Janessa and I were on our way to Superstore from my parent's house tonight, and we saw a man waving at cars by the train tracks on Fermor. At first I thought he was hitchhiking, but by the way he was waving his arms, it looked more as though something was wrong. No one was stopping for him.

Wondering if we should stop, I looked down the train tracks to see a person lying down farther down the tracks, and another person standing beside the one on the ground.

Janessa and I immediately decided to call my parents, and as we were turning around to go back to the man, I told my dad the situation and asked him to meet us at the tracks so that we had someone else to be with us and help. We ran up to the man, who no one had stopped for, still, and asked him what was wrong. He said his friend was having seizures and needed help. As we talked, a woman (the one standing by the man on the tracks) came too, telling us the same thing. So we called 911...and while I was talking with the respondent, Janessa and I started walking over to the man as he was now lying there alone. While I was talking still, we noticed the friends were walking away and we didn't understand why. Janessa and I helped keep the man on his side as told by the paramedic phone respondent, my dad soon showed up, and then 2 police cars and an ambulance came.

I was so incensed that no one else had bothered to stop--and I knew I wasn't the only person to have seen the guy lying on the tracks, or the man waving for help! The man trying to get help for his friend was Aboriginal, and I can't help but wonder if people would have been more inclined to help had the person been of a different ethnicity.

The friends were nowhere to be found and the man was helped. My guess as to why the friends left early was that they knew help was on the way, their friend was now safe, and they wanted to avoid the police for whatever reason(s).

When talking to the police, one thanked us for showing compassion and care, and for helping someone in need, as it was nice to see a glimpse of humanity. In my head I was thinking...what the heck else would I do?! It makes me sad to know that not all people will help one another.