Homeless man left to die

I read this on a news site and I could not help but put it in a blog. This shook me, I honestly did not realise people would do this, but then again I must be shamelessly naieve. This article is from the USA, but that changes nothing. I will end this article with a question.

"Man left to die on NY street
2010-04-27 12:09

New York - The homeless Guatemalan immigrant lay face down, unmoving, on the pavement an apartment building, blood from knife wounds pooling underneath his body.
One person passed by in the early morning. Then another, and another. Video footage from a surveillance camera shows at least seven people going by, some turning their heads to look, others stopping to gawk.
One even lifted the homeless man's body, exposing what appeared to be blood on the sidewalk underneath him, before walking away.

It wasn't until after the 31-year-old man had been lying there for nearly an hour that emergency workers arrived, and by then, it was too late.

Saved woman from attack

Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax - who police said was stabbed while intervening to help a woman being attacked - had died. "I think it's horrific," said Marla Cohan, who teaches at PS 82, a school across the street from where Tale-Yax died.
"I think people are just afraid to step in; they don't want to get involved; who knows what their reasons are?"

Tale-Yax was walking behind a man and a woman on 144th Street in the Jamaica section of Queens at around 06:00 on April 18 when the couple got into a fight that became physical, according to police, who pieced together what happened from surveillance footage and interviews with area residents.

Tale-Yax was stabbed several times when he intervened to help the woman, NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne said. She and the other man fled in different directions, and Tale-Yax pursued the man before collapsing. Authorities are searching for the man and woman.

Emergency calls

An emergency call from a woman screaming came in at around 06:00, but when officers responded to the address that was given, no one was there, police said.
Another call came in at around 07:00, saying a man was lying on the street, but gave the wrong address. Finally, around 07:20, someone called the emergency dispatcher to report a man had possibly been stabbed at 144th Street and 88th Road.

Police and firefighters arrived a few minutes later to find Tale-Yax dead. Officials say they're not sure whether the man was still alive when passers-by opted not to help him. Residents who regularly pass by the same stretch of pavement, in a working-class neighbourhood of low-rise apartment buildings and fast food restaurants near a busy boulevard, were unnerved by the way Tale-Yax died.

"Is anybody human anymore?" asked Raechelle Groce, visiting her grandmother at a nearby building on Monday. "What's wrong with humanity?"



I will end this blog with the last few paragraphs from the news piece, but before I do I want to ask all a question. Which person are you? (And do not put any guilt with this; honesty is where you are at.)
1. A person passing, to look, to gawk.
2. A person lifting the homeless man's body, before walking away.
3. A person on the outskirts at shock it was in their area, while at home nearby (did they hear something and ignore it?)
4. A person phoning through to 911 (our case 10-111)
5. A person calling in the distress call, and waiting for the assistance.

The article continues, and ends with a strong point of fact:

"Groce agreed.
"I just think that's horrible, whether you're homeless or not," she said. "He's a human being; he needs help."

I re-iterate:
"I just think that's horrible, whether you're homeless or not," she said. "He's a human being; he needs help."

Think on this and may we all be questioned on our motives with the less fortunate.

Luke 10:25-37(I will approach this in my next blog...)