Lady Hem told me this rather depressing story this morning.
As anyone who has read my blog will know, Lady Hem is an ICU nurse. She told me about this patient, someone she hadn't actually looked after. He was a young Indian guy, about 25, with atrocious liver damage. He was an alcoholic but she didn't know whether he was born here, or whether he'd only been in the country for a short time. I'm guessing he'd only been here for a little while.
Why? Well, because no one came to visit him. No family anyway. A couple of his housemates came to see him once or twice and he was in ICU for several weeks. He didn't talk much, he was twenty five and NO ONE CAME TO SEE HIM.
He died last week, as astute readers will have realised already from my judicious use of 'was.' As she said, it was quite sad. One that he was an alcoholic so young and two, because he had no one. And, as she was telling me, I was thinking, 'if not for you, that would be me.' Because all my friends are her friends. I brought no one into the relationship. So we have OUR friends. But, if I wasn't married to Lady Hem, I'd also have no friends. And, if I were in the ICU, I also wouldn't have anyone come visit me. Except my dad, I guess.
I'm not entirely sure of the whole point of this post. I guess, it just goes to show that, you really don't know sometimes, how lucky you are until it's pointed out.
4 comments:
Of course, the fact that he had no one was probably the single biggest contributor to his drinking problem. The Catch-22 is that nobody wants to be around a drunk. They're so dreary and weak.
This was absolutely the most depressing post I think I have ever read.
It does raise a good point though and makes us appreciate our own lives a little more.
I'll come visit you.
UB: yeah, you're completely correct. I get the feeling it might have been that Catch 22: no one was around him because he was a drunk and he drank because no one was around him.
Sydneylk: sorry about that. I thought the same when I heard the story.
Faux: thanks Faux. Might be a bit expensive but.
Veg: yeah, I get the same. Doesn't really stop us though, does it?
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