Who We Can Count On (For Sure)

Recently I was reviewing some of my old Newsletters and I came across a story about a situation I would like to revisit........

When I first went to Virginia in July 2005, I stayed in a motel for a short time until I found an apartment. One evening I was taking a shower and I heard through the adjacent wall, someone calling for help. At first I wasn't sure if I was hearing someone in trouble or just a TV. The voice was saying "Help, please help me, can someone please help me".

I tried to connect with the person through the wall to let her know I was going to call the office and get some help. I wanted to offer some assurance but wasn't sure my attempt to communicate with her was successful.

The man who answered the phone when I called the desk to report what I was hearing, said he would send someone down right away. Some 15 minutes went by and the person was still calling for help so again I called the desk to find out if someone planned on checking the situation or if I would need to call elsewhere for assistance. The person said he had been very busy but assured me that it would be taken care of so I waited.......all the while I could still hear the person calling for help. About 15 minutes later (when I could still hear cries for help) I walked down to the motel office. There didn't appear to be any immediate urgency to check out my report; I again asked that someone please check the unit; the man again assured me he was going straight there now. I returned to my unit. It was probably about a half hour following that I heard sirens coming into the motel property........so it had been over an hour by now since I first reported a problem. Mike & another guest had determined where the cries were coming from & directed police to the unit.

Thinking that the lady would now be helped I was satisfied to stay in my own place & not clutter up the rescue area with my presence. Usually sirens will attract enough onlookers without me adding to the crowd. Mike did stay to see what was happening though. Soon he returned to ask if I would assist the police..........

.........the lady had fallen in the bath tub and couldn't get out. The police wanted someone to enter the suite to hand the lady in the tub the leashes for the two dogs which she was holding by their collars. It was unclear if she was clothed & the police wanted another woman to go in.

When I arrived I saw three police cars, an ambulance and a firetruck all sitting outside her unit. There were police officers at the open door of the suite with guns drawn, looking inside. An officer asked me if I would go in, first to get the leashes, then to advise them if she was dressed. Inside the lady told me where I would find the leashes & assured me the dogs wouldn't hurt me. In hindsight, although I was a bit apprehensive at the time, if they had wanted to harm me she wouldn't have been able to hold them.......they were huge. So, leashes handed over, dogs in check, lady clothed, big brave police & rescue people enter the unit, I go back to my place.

Estimated two hours passed before someone finally got in there to help this lady out of the tub. She did indeed get out of the tub because later that evening she called me on the phone to thank me for "saving her life" she said.

Now as it turned out the woman was not seriously hurt; there are some buts & what ifs though.......I don't need to list them all here; I'm sure you know what I mean. In the time it took to rescue her she could have died.

I hope never to be in a similar situation waiting for some brave policeman (with a gun) to come to my aid.

Have you had similar experiences where people just seemed to drop the ball all along the way? I know that generally rescues are handled in a responsible manner but this particular situation certainly had me wondering right from the word 'GO'.