How I Saved a Man’s Life (A Personal Story Involving Racial Acceptance)

In light of the Project positivity challenge I have decided to share my experience with Steemit on how I literally saved a dying man’s life.

This is a true story.

To get you acquainted to me and my situation, I have to explain that I grew up in a white suburban town. There were maybe 2 black people in the entire city, and they weren’t thugs or gangsters by any means, in fact I was friends with them growing up. So I never had an issue with people of color. But when I was 24, I moved closer to Minneapolis with a buddy so I could live next to the community college and I ended up moving into an apartment that was considered to be living in the "hood". It was a perfectly cheap 2 bedroom, and had an outdoor pool right next to our 1st floor patio.

Little did I know, but at that time we were the only white people living in the complex. This was the first time in my life that I was a severe minority. Soon after moving in, I realized the neighbors across the courtyard and pool area were an interesting group of people.

It's quite peculiar that this group of 10-15 grown black men would color coordinate with each other. Every single one was wearing

-Red Shirt

-Red Shoes

-Red Accessories

These guys would hang outside on the patio at all hours. Sometimes only a couple at a time, but during the day it was common to see at least 5 or 10. Every once in a while you would catch them showing off a hand-gun, but you would always see them smoking blunts and drinking.

To be honest. 

They Scared the Shit Out of Me

 gangawareness-bianca.blogspot.com 

Now that I set the mood, I'll get on with my story

It was mid-afternoon on a hot July day and we had lived here for almost a year so our lease was coming up. My buddy had moved out already because his summer job, so I was living alone for the summer. I had just come home from working all day and sat down at my desk to play the newly released Diablo 3. 

While scanning the auction house, I heard a Ping which had meant one of my items had sold. This was a huge deal (early in the release, minor items sold for outrageous prices) and I knew I had priced my items at ridiculous never-should-ever-sell price. At the same time I heard I heard a woman from the pool area scream

"Help, Somebody Please Help"

Now, this part is where my hero aspect comes into play. I simply invoked the

 Bystander Effect

If you never heard of this, let me explain. Typically in a public area where there are many people and someone needs desperate help, most will expect Someone Else to help, and in such, most will not come to aid that person.

Yup, that’s what I did. I figured someone else would help, and so I went back to my game. After realizing one of my rings had sold for $100 I was absorbed into my computer and forgetting about the lady outside. Until a couple minutes had past and I heard her scream out again,

"Help, Anyone Please Help"

Now I couldn't just sit back, so I moved the blinds over to take a peek at what this lady was yelling about. There was a lady on the side of the pool who had yelled for help and I also noticed a fat guy in the middle holding the lifesaver floatation device.

See, someone came to his rescue! I didn't need to do anything. Perfect execution of the bystander effect. Case closed, back to my game. 

Another couple minutes goes by and I hear her yell again but in a much more desperate tone. This time I decided to see what was happening, so I got up, opened the door and she instantly saw me and yelled

"Please help! He's Dying!"

I was confused because the fat guy in the middle of the pool was still holding the lifesaver so I replied while pointing at him,

"He looks just fine."

To her quick response, "Not Him, There’s someone at the bottom, He can't reach him!"

"Oh My God! Shit!" as I Instantly ran into the pool area.

 macbofisbil.me 

As I approach the side of the pool, I see the most horrifying image that is burned deep into my mind. At the bottom of the 12 foot deep pool, a body was hovering. It completely shocked me, but at the same time I reacted as though unconsciously. 

I dove in with my clothes on and kept my eyes wide open to see where the body was and I still remember the exact thought as I was diving,

This guy better not drown me while I pull him up

I had heard that when someone is drowning, if you try to rescue them, they will most likely be frantic so while saving them they actually drown you. So I didn't know what to expect. But when I reached him and grabbed his arm, I quickly realized the knowledge I had applied to drowning people, not ones that were already drowned.

His body was completely limp. It took no effort to get him to the surface and out of the pool. By this time a crowd had gathered to see what the commotion was about, and as I got out of the pool I called out

"Did anyone call an Ambulance?"

Nope, nobody. A crowd of people and nobody calls the Police. So I ran back to my apartment and called 911. During my time on the phone I noticed the guy was still lying limp on the side of the pool and a nurse was attempting CPR. 

I'm not really big on getting attention, especially for applause. I'm more of a humble person, without the need for a thank you or calling me a hero. So once I saw the ambulance pull up, I actually just stayed back and watched from the patio as they hauled him away on a stretcher.

At this point I thought he had died and I started to do some self-reflecting. Blaming myself for not helping the first time she had called, which in reality was a huge factor. Over 5minutes had passed between the first call for help until I came outside. It was weighing on me.

About a week after the incident happened, I was outside smoking when a couple of the guys dressed in red from across the courtyard came over to where I was sitting. This was the first time I had talked to them, and my heartbeat was racing when they approached. But right away one pulled out a blunt and said,

"Come have a drink with us?"

So I went over and sat down with about 10 gang members. Picture this; a preppy looking white guy surrounded by a bunch of big black guys all dressed in red.

But it was a pretty good time hanging out with them. They thought it was very cool that the white guy jumped in to save a black guy from drowning. I quickly had asked what had happened to the guy. Turns out he had drank too much that day and slipped at the edge of the pool. After I pulled him out, and the ambulance took him away, they were able to clear the water out and he had gained consciousness so he had survived. 

Although I never saw that man I pulled out of pool again, I did receive some recognition around the apartment complex. One moment I will never forget was when a little girl said to her mom as I passed by them,

"Hey, that’s the white guy who saved the black guy."

I hope that little girl remembers and it positively affects her view on races. 

Although I don't consider myself a hero, I would like to believe that my interaction between the races may have changed some views on white people and racism, and that in itself is a noble thing in my eyes. I would encourage everyone to make an attempt at changing the views on racism. If we all held out a hand to other races, it would quickly change the outlook everyone seems to have.

Thank you for reading and feel free to comment.

Please consider following me @generation.easy

1st image credit:  commons.wikimedia.org