Photo Friday - Heroes

Another Photo Friday today, but this is a Photo Friday unlike any other.

As regular readers will know, it’s a series in which I show a photo that means a lot to me or which moves me in some way, and here it is.  Quite an ordinary, everyday shot of a guy delivering the largest amount of pizzas I’ve ever seen.

Yet the picture signifies much more.

When we see people out on the streets of big cities it’s as though everyone is so busy, rushing around, sometimes being quite rude and unthinking towards each other, everyone seems to be wrapped up in their own little world, concentrating on their own problems.  But scratch the surface and you’ll find that people, ordinary, busy, pre-occupied people like you and I, can in fact turn out to be fantastic true heroes when the need arises.  And this photo reminds me of that fact.

By now we’ve all been subjected to saturation media coverage of the horrific senseless evil of the Manchester bombing, but what a lot of the media haven’t reported is the incredibly brilliant way that people from all over the city and beyond came together to lend a hand, to stand together, to send out the message that we will carry on, come what may. The roll of honour includes:

·         Off duty medics, on seeing the TV pictures, went to work to help out;

·         Two homeless guys who just happened to be near the arena pitched in and helped the injured until ambulances could get to the scene.  When one was interviewed he merely said, “Just because I’m homeless it doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart.”

·         One lady amidst all the confusion led fifty children to safety, took them to a Holiday Inn, then posted on social media, saying, “They are waiting to be picked up.  We will keep them safe and we will stay with them.”

·         Numerous taxi drivers gave free rides to people throughout the night;

·         A Rabbi brought cups of tea to the police on duty;

·         Local shops offered free breakfasts, lunches and cups of tea to all members of the emergency services who hadn’t found time to eat;

·         A national pizza chain delivered free pizza to NHS staff to help keep them going;

·         When daylight came, so many people queued to give blood that many of them had to be turned away;

·         Fund raising was arranged online to help support the families of those who had passed away.  The target of £300,000 was easily met and surpassed.    

I’m absolutely sure there were many many more acts of selfless bravery and kindness done by lots of other people that I just haven’t heard about.  Reading about these people and the things they decided to do restores my faith in human nature, and that faith is sorely needed in these dark days.

Bless them all.