Lou rang me at work yesterday. She wanted me to come home. The young man (30 yrs) across the street had come home from work to find his friend had hung himself. She'd gone in to try to help.
In spite of the rain pelting it down, I made it home in 30 minutes to find our house full of detectives and police. The young man from across the street was in our living room giving his statement, Lou was in the kitchen giving hers and I fluctuated between making cups of tea, hugging Lou and letting various others in and out of the house.
The young man and his friend had spent the night out having a few drinks. Instead of trying to make it home, the friend accepted the young man's offer to stay there for the night. In the morning, the young man had to get off to work but asked his friend to be sure to walk the dogs.
I'm not sure what made the young man come home in the middle of the day. I suspect he just didn't know if his buddy was still there to attend to the dogs..
Long story short, the friend had hung himself over the door inside the bedroom. The young man had opened the door and his friend had dropped. He ran from the house and came to our door for help.
He later said he'd come to ours because he knew younger people lived here (we're surrounded by oldies). He scared Lou by banging the crap out of the door, but still, she opened it. When she saw how frenzied he looked, she nearly shut the door on him again but he said, 'My friend has hung himself, the ambulance want me to go back in and I just can't. I need help please.' She got a sweater, her housekeys and followed him out. She asked for his phone to be certain he was truly on the phone to paramedics before she left our yard.
They had to climb the fence to get back into the property.. imagine my Loubie scrambling over a fence with her bod in it's tender state!!
Alone upstairs, she found the friend cold and gray, his poor body stiff. The paramedics kept asking her on the phone to be certain he was gone and she said later she felt they'd not believed her and pushed a little too hard... But she rolled him to his side, checked for breathing etc to reassure herself and the lady on the other end of the phone. She stroked his face and said kindly, 'What have you gone and done mate?'
She came back downstairs to find the young man on his knees in the muddy garden, sobbing his eyes out. She did her best to comfort him in his shock as they waited for his girlfriend to show up, for the paramedics and the ambulance to arrive. The police were quick behind.
The picture goes a bit confusing there. Basically, the young man didn't want to go back into the house so Lou invited him and the others to ours.
They were here until about 7.30.
Lou didn't sleep very well last night. She's got images of the friend behind her eyelids at all hours. She tried to go into work but her brain was scattered and she ended up coming home very early.
The young man came to our door again tonight. He brought a bottle of brandy for Lou and hugged her and hugged her over and over, thanking her for being here, for being willing to help.
3 comments:
Very sad and tragic! Scary too. (((Lou))) & (((Nony)))
What a horrible thing. So sorry.
What a truly dreadful thing to happen, for the young man whose life ended so tragically, for his family and friends left behind, for the friend who discovered him, for your lady and for everybody else that will be affected by the ripples.
Your lady showed admirable courage and outstanding support for your neighbour, she probably did it without hesitation but should know that it is a huge deal and not everyone could have done what she did.
I hope the images fade soon, Bigs hugs to you both.
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