GLAD TO HELP

It was a very busy evening in Old Town, Alexandria. As we were walking out of the restaurant on King Street, a young man staggered across our path. As he fell over in front of us, I noticed that he did not have a jacket on (it was quite cold), was wearing a wedding band, and was clutching a cell phone. After he hit the ground, my husband and I went over to see if he was okay. He was very pale and sweating. He said that his wife "S" was across the street in the restaurant, and that he had left the restaurant because he felt hot and needed to get some air. My husband put his jacket under his head to make him comfortable. I then went across the street to find "S." I asked the maitre d if she could find "S" in the restaurant after describing the situation. They could not find her, so I went back to see if my husband had learned any more details. I went back over to the restaurant and talked to another person, who obviously succeeded in finding "S." She came running over to her husband. She thought her husband had gone to the restroom, so was not concerned that he had left. Because the young man was "stable" we did not call for an ambulance, though strongly advised that "S" take her husband to the hospital. After assuring "S" that her husband was in good hands (my husband is a retired physician, and even offered to pay their bill so as not to worry them needlessly) "S" and I walked over to our car... along the way I learned from "S" that they were from Maryland and had relatives in Alexandria. Thank goodness they were not tourists! I told "S" where I worked and that we lived on Capitol Hill. "S" and I then drove back to the scene, picked up the "boys," and drove "S" and her husband to their car, which was parked several blocks away. We gave him some candy, thinking he was hypoglycemic, and escorted them to their car. It's always good to have candy in the car! "S" asked for our names, and we said goodbye. My husband told me that the young man and his wife were out having dinner, away from their 4 children. One teaches physics, the other is a special ed teacher. The incident reminded me of another unexpected situation in our old neighborhood. After seeing a play on a Sunday afternoon, my husband and I witnessed a man collapse in the middle of a downtown street, and immediately performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. The elderly gentleman was moved by ambulance to a hospital, and we were told that he had survived the incident. Most people who saw the young man that evening thought he was drunk, when in reality, he was quite sick. We were glad we did not pass him by, and could be of some help.