A Heart Rendering Rescue

It was hot yesterday in the Los Angeles semi-rural superb of Palos Verdes as my 80 year friend Fred and I vigorously walked along a paved road up a hillside.

At the top, we struck up a conversation with a teenage couple, Martin and Victoria, pierced and smoking something mood altering. But they were nice kids and we treated them well.

Suddenly Fred began to lurch and I helped him get gently down on the ground just before he would have collapsed. Fred began to vomit and his level of consciousness became weak.

This area of Palos Verdes is considered a dead zone for cell phones and my cell phone could not call 911. But Martin was able to call 911 which dispatched emergency services.

Meanwhile, a middle aged couple, Bill and Marie arrived and they grabbed an umbrella from their car to shield Fred from the sun, gave Fred water to drink and helped him out of his sweatshirt.

Soon the police and the paramedics arrived, treated Fred and whisked him off to the hospital, sirens blaring from the emergency vehicle that took him.

One of the police officers and I went to inform Fred's wife Ellen, as the officer, Alex waited at the end of their driveway while I informed Ellen, so as not to shock her by the appearance of a uniformed police officer. He then joined us and collected medical and other information.

Fred's and Ellen's daughter Doreen took her mother to the emergency room so they could support Fred and authorize any necessary treatment.

The hospital diagnosed Fred as dehydrated and kept him overnight. This morning we got a great call from Ellen saying Fred was doing well and she would be bringing him home.

She was appreciative for everything everyone had done for him.

So was I appreciative dear reader for a group of people unknown to one another came together as good Samaritans to rescue Fred from what could have become a life threatening situation, for this good hearted and personable 80 year old man.

Everyone there gave from his or her heart to rescue Fred, including the police and paramedics who joined us, a wonderful example of the love and compassion we as humanity can offer one another.

Dick
Note: Martin's phone ran out of power right after that 911 call had been placed. We could not have made another emergency call on that phone, a phone that made that 911 call despite the area for most of us being a dead cell phone area. He apparently had just the right telephone service to have made that call.