Drunk and Suicide

When approaching the carpark below my block, my father's car was hindered by a taxi which blocked our entrance. He called out for my sister who came to help me unload the luggages. Through the wind screen, I could see that they had a rather intense conversation and I was clueless (and very curious) about what was happening.

My father decided to check it out and he gestured for me to walk towards him. Then, I realised a lady who dressed like an OL (Office Lady), half sitting and half lying on the floor of the carpark. She spoke incoherently, looked aimlessly into the space and was full of tears. Her breath smelled of Whiskey. It was obvious she was drunk. Not exactly dead drunk, as she managed to direct the taxi driver back to her house and paid him the cab fare.

The taxi driver had asked my sister for help. He wanted to help the lady up on her feet but was afraid that his act of kindness will be misunderstood and subsequently being accused of outraging her modesty. Thus, he asked my sister for help. However, my sister was rather petite in size and the lady was reluctant to stand up; she used all her might and force herself to sit down on the floor. With the help of my mother and another passerby (a rather well toned young lady in her twenties), we managed to help her up on her feet and walked/dragged her in to the void deck of my block.

We had no idea where she stayed and she was unwilling to go home. She kept mumbling the following sentences repetitively "Don't call my mummy", "I don't wanna go home", "Who are you", "Don't let my mother know". During this span of time, attempted to sit down several times, cried really miserably and she tripped over her 3 inches high heel shoes. The other kind Samaritan wanted to remove her shoes for the drunk lady for fear of falling down and sustaining any injuries, but she was kind of sober enough to say "I want to wear my shoes" and insisted on doing so.

Despite her being in a state of drunkard, she held on extremely tightly onto her handbag and handphone. We had no idea where she stayed and she certainly does not look like a familiar face in this estate. For a moment, we wondered if she was heading to the right direction/house. I had wanted to call her family members but she did not want to hand over her phone. In the end, I managed to unzip her handbag and take out her wallet to look for her IC. She is a new resident who has just moved in to our block of flats. I rushed up to her unit, pressing the doorbell and knocking on door consecutively and continuously. I was afraid that her family members will be reluctant to open the door for fear of danger.

Thankfully, after a minute or two her mother opened the door and I told her exactly what happened. She told me to help keep an eye on her daughter while she went back home to change and grab her personal items. Meanwhile, my sister and father went to unload the luggages from the car, which was parked in an awkward position. My mother and the kind Samaritan continued to hold onto the drunk lady.

When her mother saw her drunk daughter, she hurried over to help her up and with my help, walked her daughter back to their unit. In the lift, she did not show any signs of negative expression such as reprimanding, nagging or sighing. I wondered if she was used to such situations. She asked with great concern if she was injured, comforted her and told her not to cry. I told her mother to watch out for any injuries that she might sustained after she alighted from the taxi; she knocked her head against the lift, fell hard on the ground, fell from her heels etc. The girl looked really depressed or maybe even disheartened about something. After sending them back to their doorstep, I wondered how they were coping.

When my parents went down to feed the stray cats two hours later, they saw an ambulance downstairs and the paramedic went up the lift for a good 20 minutes. Out came a lady on the stretcher with her wrist wrapped thickly with gauze and bandages. It seems like the lady had slitted her wrists and in an attempt to commit suicide. That lady was the very same lady we helped two hours ago. She probably put up a struggle to be treated/saved by the paramedics, which explained why the paramedics spent 20 minutes trying to get her onto the ambulance even though she lived on the lower levels. (20 minutes is rather long given the fact that paramedics work rather quickly and efficiently based on previous experiences where I get to witness them rescuing people at traffic accidents). Her mother held onto her tightly while running beside the stretcher as the paramedics pushed it quickly towards the ambulance. She did not stop crying and wailing during this period of time. My parents said it sounds really saddening.

My heart really sank when I heard the siren of the ambulance. I was really worried about her and how her mother would cope, especially when it seems like they are the only ones living in that house. I had the impression that they "相依为命", meaning they only have each other for companion and love in life.

I wonder if I will end up like this one day.

If something similar happens to my love ones, what should I do? How shall I cope?