About 5 years ago or so, was standing waiting for the bus, minding my own business. Next to me was a man in his 40's, and his ~10 year old kid. Suddenly I saw from the corner of my eye that the man just collapsed, like you see in cartoons, straight down on the ground. Kid froze up and just stared at him, and I quickly realized that "Oh fuck, I am the adult in the situation."
Went over to the man, who was conscious, but confused and angry. Luckily I recognized the signs of hypoglycemia, and asked the kid if his dad has diabetes. Kid didn't answer, just stared at him. Snapped my fingers in his face, and he came out of it, and answered "Yes, type 1". Told the kid to run to the nearby store and get a juice box or two, don't bother paying or explaining, we'll deal with it later. I stayed with the dad, tried asking some questions while ringing the emergency number, and he let me check his head. Luckily he didn't hit it, there was no blood at least.
Got the ambulance sorted, and kid ran back with juice boxes, with the store clerk running and screaming in tow. I yelled at the clerk that it's an emergency, man with diabetes collapsed. Clerk didn't care or listen, just screamed at the kid that he stole the juice boxes and tried to grab him. I got up and stepped between them, and raised my voice over hers (fortunately I have a very loud voice if I want to) and she shut up for a few seconds before starting her inane tirade about stealing and how she's gonna phone the cops. I lost my temper and told her to shut the fuck up and either help or fuck off, who the fuck cares about 50 cents worth of juice, man's life was on the line.
After drinking two boxes of juice, the man perked up and was coherent again, and stated that he has type 1 diabetes and forgot to eat. I told him it's fine, ambulance is on the way, do you need more sugar? He said he's fine, and tried to get up but I gently stopped him. During all of this, the clerk was still going on about stealing, and I got pissed, told her I know stores have a budget for this sort of thing, what the fuck is your problem, this man had an emergency, the kid did what I told him and it was the right thing to do. At this point, I remembered the kid.
The kid was standing there, tears in his eyes, staring at his feet. I pat him on the back, told him to not listen to the insane lady, you did good lad, saved your dad's life. Ambulance came at that point, and the man started fussing how he doesn't need an ambulance, he's fine. Told him that it's a good idea to get checked even if you feel fine, see if there's any underlying issues, check your head in case you hit it etc.. Got the paramedics up to speed, they started a glucose and hydration drip.
During the whole ordeal, the clerk never stopped yammering and whining, so one of the paramedics told her to knock it off and jot it up as cost of business, stores have a budget for this exact sort of thing, and it was less than a euro worth of juice that saved a man's life. They thanked me for the quick help, told them it's fine, I have friends with diabetes, not my first rodeo, and I have a first aid certificate, got lucky I was there. Turned to the kid, who was sitting in the ambulance with his dad, still crying silently, in complete shock. I fist bumped him, told it was gonna be okay, you did good. Both the kid and dad thanked me, I told them no need, I just did what anyone else would have. Ambulance left.
Store clerk was still fuming, and tried to start her shit again with me. I took out my wallet, had 2 euro coin there and I threw it on the ground. Told her "there you go, you stupid piece of shit. You have your money, what the fuck are you still doing here" and put on my headphones, ignoring her. She left shortly after, glaring at me. I gave her the finger. She didn't even pick up the 2 euro coin.
My bus came, and I was almost an hour late for work at that point. Boss nagged me when I got there, but calmed down when I explained. Was pissed about the clerk all day.
All of this at 06:30 in the morning. I'm not a morning person. It sucked. At least I could help someone in need.
Moral of the story (if you really want one):
Don't be a fucking dickhead.
Also, if you have the chance, do first aid training. I've had several situations during my life where things could've ended worse if I didn't know how to react. One situation unfortunately where it didn't matter, old boy had a seizure (I think aneurysm or stroke) and was dead before the paramedics got there, me and another dude had been doing CPR for 20 minutes on a dead man, but at least we did our best.
