An essay on acts of kindness

¶ … Kindness

Many are the times we are called upon to help other people without expecting to receive anything in return. In basic terms, an act of kindness should be random. Early this year, I chose to attend a football match between my favorite team and another popular team. The stadium was packed to capacity with fans wildly cheering on their favorite team. From time to time, people would rise from their seats either in celebration or frustration depending on how their preferred team was performing in the field. Things went on smoothly for the first-half of the match with my favorite team managing to score one goal against their opponents. Most of those seated around me were excited. Things however took a dramatic turn in the second-half session of the match with the opponent team scoring two swift goals against my favorite team. While this strange turn of events surprised many, there was this visibly agitated middle aged man who was seated next to me.

Although I had not paid any particular attention to him since the game started, I became concerned when he suddenly developed what at first appeared to be breathing difficulties. I became further concerned when he started shifting rather uncomfortably in his seat. Suspecting he could have been unwell, I chose to ask him whether he was feeling alright. His answer was shocking. He believed he was having a heart attack as he had survived a similar experience before. Prior to this, I had only watched fictional heart attack scenarios from the TV and the movies where characters just clutched their chests and fell to the ground. This was a real life scenario and I had to act fast.

The man was by now sweating profusely while at the same time complaining of severe chest discomfort and pain. My first reaction was to reassure him that everything would be alright. By this time, he was fast loosing consciousness. I had read in an article that in heart attack situations, delay in getting medical help could prove disastrous. All the while, those around me appeared to be confused. I asked one bystander to find out if there were any paramedics in the stadium as I attempted to perform a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the man. CPR mainly has got to do with compressing the chest in an attempt to bring about artificial blood circulation. I had seen the same being performed on TV to victims of a heart attack. Soon, stadium-based paramedics arrived and took control of the situation. I accompanied the team to the hospital and to cut the long story short, doctors eventually managed to save the man's life. At the hospital, I was told that my immediate actions at the stadium especially in regard to the performance the CPR on the man could have helped saved his life. I paid the man a visit before he was discharged and what I can't explain is the joy I felt seeing his appreciation for that simple role I played in helping save his life. To date, this remains one of the most significant and memorable acts of kindness I have undertaken in my lifetime.