A young woman passed me yesterday on a quiet street.  She got out of the saddle to go up a slight incline...and then her chain slipped.  A wobble for less than a second and then she went face first over the bars.  Absolutely no chance of recovery, and a really chilling sight.  I got there in about ten seconds.  She was understandably shocked, a bit tearful and had some blood on the end of her nose, and a few grazes on her legs.  She went to the kerb.  I picked up her bike.  Somebody else retrieved her helmet and D lock from the tarmac.  Somebody asked if anybody had seen what happened.  "Her chain slipped".  We were now all standing on the pavement wondering what to do.  I rummaged in my pockets for a handkerchief so she could wipe the flow of blood from her nose but realised I wasn't carrying anything remotely presentable.  Out of nowhere, someone appeared with a box of Kleenex.  Then a mother with a toddler in a buggy said "I live over there.  Why not come and sit down for a bit and have a cup of tea?".  A procession formed with the mother, toddler, victim, bike wheeler and baggage porters.  The whole episode lasted less than three minutes.
I got on my bike wondering  " How did he get the Kleenex so quickly?"