Found a body

[steve keay]

Just thought id put this out here to see how you guys and girls would react to what happened to me today. After my longest ride for a few years (34 miles) yesterday I decided I'd go for a ride along the river on my mountain bike for a change. I was cycling along the gravel path along side the river when I came around a corner to be confronted with a body lay in the bushes with legs sticking out into the path. It was late afternoon, pouring with rain and in an area that has been know to have dodgy druggies etc around. I cycled around the corner and called the police. I agreed to meet them on the corner and show them where the "body" was. while I was waiting I wondered if I should be checking him. anyway the police arrived and I showed them where he was . as we got closer I could smell alcohol. I left the police trying to wake him,
What would you do in this situation. Stop and check him (remembering the area your in) or call the police and play it safe. I thought this may make an interesting topic.

 

[Hip Priest]

Honest answer? I don't know what I'd do. I like to think I'd check the body for signs of life, and contact the police or ambulance service depending on the result, but I know from experience that I behave irrationally in stressful or unusual situations. I think you did the best you could, and I hope the experience wasn't too traumatic.

 

[Mo1959]

First instinct for me would be to check, although I would be cautious.

 

[steve keay]

Looking back I think if it was anywhere else along the river I would have probably checked but I know this was a "dodgy" area. so did the next best thing I guess.

 

[Crackle]

We all react differently but I would have checked the person first. Someone's son/daughter etc... but you did summon help.

 

[steve keay]

Oh and I forgot to mention that when the police saw him they said Oh its him again :/

 

[Andy_R]

Use D.R.A.B.C.

Can't be arsed to explain, so google it.

 

[mustang1]

News of the world or whatever pays for stories like this.

 

[Pikey]

OP, I think you did the correct thing, totally, if the area has a reputation for druggies it's not worth getting stuck with a needle or puked on and risking hep/hiv/whatever else. You assessed the risk on point and rang the police, let the trained pro's sort it out.

What worries me is how many people might have just walked or ridden off.

Tbh, I did a similar thing back in my teens when we found a bloke in a bus station, too risky to tackle ourselves, just gave the police a ring and stuck around to stop anyone lifting his wallet, watch etc...

 

[NorthernDave]

You did the right thing.

It was a dodgy area and you rightly protected your own safety (your primary responsibility) and summoned help.

 

[Justinslow]

Just thought id put this out here to see how you guys and girls would react to what happened to me today. After my longest ride for a few years (34 miles) yesterday I decided I'd go for a ride along the river on my mountain bike for a change. I was cycling along the gravel path along side the river when I came around a corner to be confronted with a body lay in the bushes with legs sticking out into the path. It was late afternoon, pouring with rain and in an area that has been know to have dodgy druggies etc around. I cycled around the corner and called the police. I agreed to meet them on the corner and show them where the "body" was. while I was waiting I wondered if I should be checking him. anyway the police arrived and I showed them where he was . as we got closer I could smell alcohol. I left the police trying to wake him,
What would you do in this situation. Stop and check him (remembering the area your in) or call the police and play it safe. I thought this may make an interesting topic.

What about his bike?

 

[steve keay]

What about his bike?

It may have been in the river but you wouldn't have seen it for the algae

 

[steve50]

I would say you did the right thing as you know the area you were in at the time, take care of your own safety first and call for help when it's safe to do so.
i found a bloke dead at work when i was sixteen years old , he had choked to death on his own vomit, a sight i will never forget.

 

[JoshM]

You'd be amazed how often this happens (I work for the ambulance service). Your first priority has to be your own safety, otherwise who summons help for the pair of you? Unlike a lot of the people I speak to at work, at least you hung around and made sure the police found him.

To my mind, it doesn't matter that he's well known to police/ambulance. If you're unconscious or almost unconscious then you need supervision to prevent you choking or swallowing your own tongue, and obviously at this time of year to prevent you becoming hypothermic. It won't stop the police who attended from having a good moan about him I'm sure, but I'm also sure they'd rather someone called then the bloke died because you didn't want to waste their time. Of course I'm also sure they'd rather he cleaned up his act and stopped needing assistance.

 

[SWSteve]

I had something similar the other week when walking round the corner shop, there was someone sat on the floor, lent against a hedge and the railings to the local allotments, with a dog tied to his wrist, and the dog was going mental. I immediately turned round to grab step-father and check he was okay, didn't fancy storing him on my own. Again, he was just a drunk who had stopped for a nap, but I hadn't seen anyone like that near where I live and thought it would be best to check and call police/ambulance if needed. In hindsight I felt an idiot, but would want someone to do the same if they saw me slumped up against a hedge on a quiet residential road