It's such a shame that the satisfaction you get from doing such a worthwhile job is tempered by the almost hopelessness of the ongoing situation that results in so many of these incidents. Life is precious but we are becoming almost anaesthetised by the overwhelming number of these reported incidents so with you at the sharp end (no pun intended) that must be magnified several times over, you really have my admiration for taking that role on...
What is really unsettling is the suggestion that the killing of the 17 year old girl is part of an initiation ceremony for a black gang member.
Thanks mate, that’s very nice of you to say that. To be honest, when you get a job like that you kind of switch off and go into auto mode....stabbings can be quite easy.....patch the wounds, stop the bleeding and get the medic to cannulate and give fluids...then blue lights to the MTC. As morbid as it sounds I’m getting used to seeing death and in a good way, it doesn’t frighten me anymore...and the plus side of the job is the varied people I meet, especially the old ones who are mostly always charming, witty and have the ‘don’t want to bother anyone’ attitude. It’s the loneliness I see that often moves me to tears....and it has done on a few occasions. That’s the sad part.
That is disturbing, but so is this...…. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...res-councils-charities-violence-a8796241.html Not sure it was necessary to mention the skin colour, by the way.
I mentioned "black" deliberately because there seems to be an extreme violent attitude and a psychopathic disregard for others among back African gangs. A casual disrespect for life, and very often the victim is another black kid, perhaps one who is making his way in the world and invokes jealousy or resentment in a gang member. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this in London before. The sad thing is, it's only when a white kid is a victim, that people sit up and demand action
The few months I worked as a hospital porter at Northwick Park as a summer job for a couple of years was the most invaluable time of my life in understanding that death is a universal. Most of the time I was polishing floors, but also taking newly deceased corpses from the wards to the mortuary (I wasn’t allowed to touch a live patient) frequently wandering in mid autopsy. Gives you a perspective. When I saw my Dad die, after a few days in a coma, though I was obviously a bit of a mess, it was easy to understand that his final illness and moment of death was a tiny proportion of what had been a good, and well enjoyed, life. Wish I could say that about some of the knife victims. On knives, many years ago in another country part of my job was trying to devise a policy to restrict access to weapons, including knives, which could be used by organised crime - meat cleavers were the weapon of choice in this place though the one off use of a crossbow sparked the effort off - and after long discussions with police, lawyers etc we concluded that the cost of controlling them through licensing etc would be nuts and banning would be impossible to implement. Plus the gangsters used to chop each other up rather than innocents, so we weren’t that bothered. We came across the ‘potato peeler’ issue as well - there are many everyday things that can be used maliciously which you could never reasonably ban or control. So it comes down to people’s behaviour and why they think it’s ok to do this ****. Plus the punishment available for those that are caught.
Most attackers are known to the victim and this kind of ‘random’ attack is totally rare and unprecedented (except for attackers having MH issues, which this wouldn’t be if true) For the attacker to have no interaction at all with the victim but comes back later to kill, is bizarre and if true, opens a new chapter in horror. As I say, it just doesn’t smell right
I worked as a hospital porter in Kingston hospital for 4 months in a gap year to help pay for college. I was 18 and grew up fast in those few months
Hospital porters are the backbone of any hospital and can keep it running smoothly and efficiently. Great job lads, unsung heroes you guys
I don’t know who Maajid Nawaz is, but I get the local news for the West Midlands and up here the deaths through knife crime have been almost exclusively South Asian on South Asian. A few years ago it was West Indians with guns shooting each other but that seems to have died away.
Not really M. Got paid what felt like a fortune for 1980/81 and paid no tax as a student. Plus after afternoon tea break we spent the rest of the shift playing cricket in the service tunnels. I loved it.
You're right about the low stats on stranger danger. But obvious stuff like a jealous past boyfriend etc would have been identified quickly. Could be mistaken identity I suppose. The police are stumped as to motive. All speculation for now
Nawaz is a British Muslim journalist who presents on LBC radio at weekends and often on The Pledge on Sky News on Thursdays.
I didn't get to play any cricket (!), it was hard and varied work but the spirit in the hospital among staff and patients was first class
Neither of the news streams are in my limited list of sources, so he has escaped my notice. Does Harold Hill/Havering have a big African immigrant population?
