Strangers can make a difference, I'm a firm believer in that.
He was young, just into his twenties.
Emotionally bright but terribly low, it was his first phone call to us and he was unsure of just what to say.
I heard the warning bells of despair from the first few minutes of our conversation.
This was an important call, I said to myself and I prepared to give it everything
It took just ten minutes for the subject of suicide to be acknowledged.
The relief of sharing such a deep dark thought safely was palpable.
It bonded caller to listener, and once out in the open he could move on to the tentative planning for help and support .
I didn't want the call to end,
I wanted to feel he was safe......but all I could was to hope that he was now safer
I offered him a follow up call to check if he was ok. He accepted and requested it for today.
I arranged for a colleague in another part of the country , a stranger to me ,to be responsible for this precious task.
I have to trust that this was carried out successfully this lunchtime.
I ended the call with the words " You matter" I wanted to sound warm,
a virtual hug
He ended the call with " Thank you for that" and then he was gone
And in well trained care my office buddy gave me time to share such an important forty minute phone call as I sniffed a tear away over a cuppa and a Jaffa cake
This is why I am a Samaritan .
He was young, just into his twenties.
Emotionally bright but terribly low, it was his first phone call to us and he was unsure of just what to say.
I heard the warning bells of despair from the first few minutes of our conversation.
This was an important call, I said to myself and I prepared to give it everything
It took just ten minutes for the subject of suicide to be acknowledged.
The relief of sharing such a deep dark thought safely was palpable.
It bonded caller to listener, and once out in the open he could move on to the tentative planning for help and support .
I didn't want the call to end,
I wanted to feel he was safe......but all I could was to hope that he was now safer
I offered him a follow up call to check if he was ok. He accepted and requested it for today.
I arranged for a colleague in another part of the country , a stranger to me ,to be responsible for this precious task.
I have to trust that this was carried out successfully this lunchtime.
I ended the call with the words " You matter" I wanted to sound warm,
a virtual hug
He ended the call with " Thank you for that" and then he was gone
And in well trained care my office buddy gave me time to share such an important forty minute phone call as I sniffed a tear away over a cuppa and a Jaffa cake
This is why I am a Samaritan .
I have disabled comments for just this post.
ReplyDeleteThey will be back tomorrow.
I am so passionate about the work of this charity and understand that we are not as sexy or as in your face as many of the others out there on the high street.
But we do so need volunteers to make that little bit of difference ....hopefully like the one I did yesterday.......
If you can help , the charity in any way, volunteering , support, fund raising whatever it is , please do so. It makes a difference
Marlene ,
ReplyDeletePlease realise that I didn't want comments here and it my mistake I reinstated it too early. .
I am so sorry for your loss , I really am, but I cannot totally agree with your statement.
No I am sure that there are always exceptions, there always are to everything, and I have not had the experience that you have had. Only the one experience.
Deletesome one like you saved me. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI was a Sam some time ago and it remains one of the most rewarding periods of my life. 20 years on and I remember one or two of the calls like they were yesterday. The briefest of encounters but so powerful that I sometimes wonder what happened.
ReplyDeleteI found myself contacting Samaritans earlier this year, to get the thoughts and feelings out of my head, and I am grateful that someone cared enough to be there. It really helped me to get some perspective.
As John says, if you can do anything to support, please do so. It's such a valuable service. That quiet person in the middle of the night listening and accepting without judgement...you don't get that in very many places.
Thank you John.
thank you for making a difference x
ReplyDeleteI must say that if I was in that state and rang Samaritans, the measured, mallow voice of one John Gray would be just the thing. Good work, thank you for being out there doing it xo
ReplyDeleteThat is such an important job and with the high levels of suicide among young men it's so good to know that there are men out there who will listen and care. Well done you. (Also sorry to hear of your separation.)
ReplyDeletethanks for the diff
ReplyDeletebr,
cased