An appalling story from the U.K. is making its way around the blogosphere this morning. In a nutshell: a housefire in South Yorkshire (h/t: samizdata) claimed the lives of a young (and expecting) couple, and their three year old son. Their 5 year old daughter is in critical condition at a local hospital and may not survive.This is just horrible and yet, I fear England's nanny state behavior is a glimpse of America's future.
While awaiting the arrival of the fire department, the South Yorkshire police actively thwarted every effort by concerned neighbors to rescue the family trapped inside their burning home. A police spokeswoman indicated that the officers “handled this incident as professionally as possible.”
You be the judge.Davey Davis, 38, a friend of the family, said: “It was the most harrowing thing I have ever witnessed. Michelle was at the bedroom window yelling, ‘Please save my kids’ and we wanted to help but the police were pushing us back and not allowing us near. We were willing to risk our lives to save those kiddies but the police wouldn’t let us.
I am utterly at a loss for words—not for want of emotion, the feeling I have is very real. It’s just that there are no words low enough or vile enough to accurately describe the actions of these first responders. None.
The presumption that the State owns you, and can therefore decide for you, whether you can aid your friends and neighbors even as they are dying, is absolutely inexcusable. May they be tormented by unabsolvable guilt, for the rest of their days.
God Forbid. And please Dear Lord, bless those who wished to help and take those who perished into your arms.
Posts
Every day I worry about the abdication of personal responsibility and the "it's someone else's job" mentality. We're brought up to believe that someone is looking out for those in need, that someone else will help them or save them.
ReplyDeleteAnd the people we thought would be doing the helping/saving?
They thought someone else was going to do the dirty work, too.
In cases like this one in particular, a few minutes - even seconds - one way or the other can make the difference between life and death. By the time you realize that "help" isn't arriving in time, it's already too late.
Thanks for the link!