It Only Takes One...

When you tune in to the local news station these days, two major themes are being reported: the gang violence in Metro Vancouver, and the inquiry of the taser-led death of the polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.

For those who don't remember, Mr. Dziekanski arrived at the Vancouver International Airport from Poland on one October night in 2007. After clearing immigration, he was seen wandering in the waiting area for HOURS, and grew increasingly distressed. The surveillance camera showed that Mr. Dziekanski began to set up a barricade using his luggage, and was talking to himself. 4 RCMP officers eventually arrived, and, as some of you may have seen in a graphic and disturbing video, tasered him repeatedly. He eventually died.

The hearing/inquiry aims to investigate whether the RCMP officers did the right thing in handling Mr. Dziekanski’s situation, and whether any foul play was involved in preventing him from receiving first aid treatment after he was tasered. I will not pretend to be a legal expert and predict what the outcome is, nor am I going to say whether the officers were in any way at fault (I do have my doubts as to why they looked at a man holding a stapler in a “combat stance” as dangerous that warrants repeated taser blasts…). I just want to think of what we are doing to our neighbours.

Mr. Dziekanski was on a flight from a foreign country. It is safe to assume that, on that flight, there were others who could speak Polish. It is also safe to assume that during the six or more hours that he was wandering at YVR, there would have been people who saw this really distressed man not finding his way, not finding his family. Had a fellow passenger from the plane took a little time to ask the man if there was something he/she could do, or had there been a staff at YVR who came to his assistance shortly after he was noticed to be wandering, the RCMP officers never would have been dispatched in the first place.

We never think that being kind to those around us could make a world of a difference, could make a difference between life and death. I was at this suicide-assistance training course earlier, and the speaker told us that many people who tried to kill themselves actually just need that ONE person to show them that they are still being cared for. In Mr. Dziekanski’s case, had someone shown care, he might have been led to safety to meet his mother. In the case of those around you who are struggling in life, a word of comfort and support may be all it takes to encourage that person to hold on through the tough times. Why are we still too stingy to express that we care?

It only takes one...