It was Saturday afternoon and I was coming home from school. I found a man who had collapsed on the side of the road and he was half dead. I was panicking, also feeling frightened that it might be an act, that people were waiting to attack me. So I drove a few meters ahead while processing the situation. All I could do was to step aside and witness how the life of the poor man was going to be saved.

What surprised me the most was that people were actually passing by while staring at him. But no one really bothered to approach him to check if he was alright or alive. The man was barely speaking, all he said was that he was very weak.

After a few minutes, a passing taxi driver eventually stopped by to check if he was breathing. After I saw the taxi trying to assess the situation of the man, I gathered some courage and walked a few meters ahead. I then noticed two police vans pulling up next to the man’s body. But those policemen were just checking to see whether the man was still breathing or not. And they drove off. I then saw the taxi driver turning the man’s body around and he gathered his belongings and started attending to the man.

The taxi driver asked the man what his name was and what had happened to him. He then called the ambulance and decided to stay with the man as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. He gave him water to drink. The ambulance never arrived, sadly.

I was busy looking out for my bag and my cell-phone. Being the only young boy I was still afraid to get closer and all I could do was witness the good act that was shown by the taxi driver. The man was a security guard, who had worked a night shift and he was making his way home from South Beach point to Berea. He had collapsed and claimed that he had not eaten for two days.

The taxi driver stayed with the man for almost an hour until the man could regain some sort of strength and could eventually remember his name and his address. The taxi driver went on and he gathered about four other guys who helped him to lift the man into the taxi, and he personally took the man to the hospital.

The kindness and concern that the taxi driver had shown was really commendable. It was only when he stopped that other people approached the situation. I was so touched to have witnessed how people are willing to put their lives at risk for the sake of changing someone else’s life.

The taxi driver was very compassionate, he continued to visit the man at the hospital and gave him food and clothing. The man was filled with joy, he felt there were people in this world that loved him. This gave him hope and courage as he was able to start living a happy and healthy life and to provide for himself.