Around 11 am, as usual, I rode my electric scooter from the community to the nearby hospital to grab some lunch.
As I arrived at the parking lot, I scanned the available spaces while scooting forward. Suddenly, I saw an old man lying between two parking spaces. He looked to be 70-80 years old, and a young woman sat next to the space he was lying in, engrossed in her phone.
I stopped my scooter, turned it off, and approached the man. “Sir, are you alright?” I asked.
He didn’t reply immediately, so I took a few steps closer.
Then he said, “Can you help me up?”
Hesitantly, I looked around and noticed the only other person nearby was the young woman playing with her phone. My mind raced: “Is this a scam? Surely she must have noticed him lying there, as he’d been calling for help.”
Therefore, there were two possibilities: 1. They were working together to scam people, or 2. She simply didn’t care and was ignoring him.
At that moment, the old man pleaded, “Please help me up. I won’t try to scam you.”
Knowing these scams are unfortunately quite common now, I needed to protect myself but also wanted to help the man.
So I told him, “Stay still, I’ll be right back.”
I quickly went into the hospital and found a security guard, who looked about 60 years old. I explained that the old man had fallen out of his wheelchair and led him back to the parking lot. The guard used his radio to alert other officers while we walked.
Once we reached the old man, the security guard immediately helped him up, and I saw some other officers arriving. I then left the scene and entered the hospital to get my lunch.
