Dear Editor,
History does repeat itself. The Stabroek News of March 5 carried the story of 26-year-old Trinidadian “hero” Nicholas Seucharan who died after rescuing two children 11 and 8 years old from drowning. According to the story Seucharan was playing cricket on the beach when he heard a woman shouting for help. He instantly left the game and ran to a van to get a piece of rope to assist but was told not to go into the water because he can’t swim. He ignored the advice, went in and pushed the children towards the sand, then unfortunately developed problems and was pulled in by a rip current and drowned. His mother in sadness responded: “It was a good thing he did, but losing him was very hard, he was my only son.” What a pity.
Now recall: Some years ago American pro-footballer Joe Delaney, also 26, just before jumping into a pond and drowning trying to save two boys uttered these words: “I can’t swim good, but I’ve got to save those kids.”
The bravery and heroic display of humanity some 5 years ago by 27-year-old Christopher Stephens is another classic manifestation of unbridled, unbounded love for fellow man: Christopher Stephens, an uncounted draycart worker around Georgetown, after dropping his four children off to school saw a crowd and went to investigate. He found out that two Guyana Water Authority employees were down in a manhole unconscious from poisonous gas. Like Seucharan he secured a piece of rope and went down defying all advice not to go, brought up one and then in spite of further warnings, after oxygenating his lungs and responding: “Ah can’t lef he down deh,” he went down again. Christopher Stephens brought back up the other man, who was also still alive, but unfortunately he himself succumbed minutes later, leaving behind his four children. Please note dear readers the coincidence: The age of the men was 26 in all three cases; there were two to be rescued; and they were male.
Then there was this one that almost took the cake: The mind-boggling act of a man – sorry I can’t remember his name. Upon learning that a 5-6 year-old-girl had fallen into a large sewage pond he plunged into that sea of filth, an act that defied all good reason, and just like Christopher Stephens went down but couldn’t find her, came up for air and went down back once more. He brought her up only to realise that she was already dead – what a pity! And these stories make me think of those who like to give so much lip service about “he died for all of us.” The parents of the deceased girl and the man should form a bond for life. Now if these selfless God-like acts mentioned above don’t knock you soft then nothing else will. I also know that there are many more such unrecorded and unpublished stories of good deeds, of man in the service of humanity, of the brotherhood of man, that others can tell you about. Believe me those stories will have a great influence on others reading them, so they should be told. Fredrick Collins has done so with a story I never heard about, namely, Arland Williams of the 1982 Air Florida plane crash who swam some distance to save children and perished in the process. Believe me I like hearing these accounts. But not only has Collins enlightened us about yet another heroic lifesaving act, he went further to express his resentment at the way the term has been devalued by some – a kind of mockery – in his letter ‘Express headline belittles a hero’ (SN, March 8). But as I always say, these are the real heroes to whom we should give national awards and truly honour.
And like I keep saying, it is acts like these that sustain our faith in humanity, that good people, like taxes will always be around among us; they are the people who strengthen us and brighten our day, put a spring in our step, energise us and build our hopes to make us believe in tomorrow. It is so unfortunate that these types of individual seldom occupy offices of power and influence, and I mean it is really unfortunate, for if it were not so this world would be a much better place.
And believe me when I say that I often think of Christopher Stephens and the four children he left behind for the sake of those two Guyana Water Authority workers; it is because of him that they still breathe. God wouldn’t like it if they don’t look out for those children. ‘So many Gods so many creeds when just the art of being kind is what this world needs.’
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
