16: FACING NEW DILEMMAS

Circa 2020 and I had the usual mundane stuff going on in my life – relocating to a new country, leaving a child behind to live in Dubai, exploring new career options after 20 years, going for extra-long walks, honing my cooking skills, cleaning the place, organising zoom bingo, travelling and dealing with the loss of a parent (not to COVID).

Lockdown or not, my life was still somehow action-packed, and I was determined not to be beaten down. I often wondered why people were moaning about staying at home and the trauma of how to pass the time – my days seemed to fly. The impatient side of me wanted to shout out: ‘Oye! Get a grip on yourselves and get going’, but the genteel side of me would say, yes, all of us humans are different in some ways, and some need help to deal with this new normal. A few also required a good hard shake to face the reality of 2020. Thanks to social media, people began to freely voice their struggle on mundane things too, even as they sat on couches and watched Netflix. New divas were born every day emoting to a captured audience.

I go on record to sympathise with those who faced tremendous personal and financial losses due to this dastardly disease, and I do feel their pain. 2020 changed our lives forever. People will now say pre- COVID and post- COVID in conversation more often. Everyday stuff that we took for granted before now posed the question, should we or shouldn’t we? Should we hug & kiss our family and friends or not? Should we keep a 4-meter distance between dear ones? Should we share dessert using the same spoon? Should we take off our masks when visiting? Should we wear makeup under our masks? Should we try to be happy or never relinquish the fear of possible infection?

One such dilemma was faced by me just two short weeks after the lockdown began. The threat of COVID was new, the dangers magnified, the information scarce and our fears had rocketed sky high, even amongst the bravest of us all. If we did not fear for ourselves, we feared for the safety of our beloved ones. On one of my leisurely walks, I noticed in the distance a woman on the ground, doing what seemed like small push-ups at the time. Two teenagers stood by, phones in their hands and looking quite confused (I later realised that was the normal expression of youth everywhere). On approaching the tableau, I immediately saw that the woman was having a seizure of some kind – she was bleeding from the fall and was alone. The two youth were passers-by and had stopped but did not know what to do next. Being a trained first aider, I immediately assessed the situation and asked the teens to call 119. They were relieved to be directed and suddenly displayed exemplary confidence when using their phones to describe the incident to the paramedics. They told us to hang in there and that an ambulance would come within 10 minutes. The woman’s condition seemed to worsen, and waiting longer did not seem to be a particularly good idea. By now, a car had stopped near us, and a woman bounded out of it, asking if she could help in any way.

Now my dilemma: Should I dive in and carry out first aid? There were body fluids all around; I had no mask on (still early days), carried no sanitiser and yet was the only one qualified to do something. Was this some COVID-related attack the woman was having, or had she collapsed due to an ailment? What if I did not do something now and the woman suffered further? When I helped sick people as part of my job for over 20 years, did I ever hesitate or fear for my own life? This wretched indecision was new and terrible for me. I had never denied first aid to anybody before and now this. At that moment I realised what a gambler I was. I decided to take my chances then and face the consequences later… after all, the devil looks after his own.
As I knelt to do the needful for the woman, the humans around me acted as if on cue and were galvanised into action. The confused teens helped me handle the woman, the lady from the car rushed and fetched water and a pillow from the car and reassured the woman in soft tones. Tissues were produced, and we cleaned up the patient who was already looking near-conscious. By the time the ambulance arrived, a small crowd of helping hands had gathered around us – which amazed the paramedics who applauded all of us for our timely intervention. I applauded God for pushing me in the right direction, giving me courage, the courage to face my conscience for the rest of my life, knowing that I did my duty, as well as being the catalyst for the others who were unsure. My faith in humanity of 2020 was once again restored!

(And yes – there have been many times when I’ve badly wanted to slap some sense into a few whiny ones too :))

Did you know? humansof2020.com is a self-publishing platform. The stories are not curated and open to everyone to share their experience. Join the community and share your experience today.