I knew a young man who had been out drinking with his friend on a typical friday night, circulating around a few bars having a good time, laughing, joking and chasing girls.They were both working the following day so they stopped off to buy a pizza and their worlds changed......dramatically. Dave, the guy in question and Alex his friend happened to cross the path of a drunken bully who punched Daves' pal without warning or provocation. Dave stepped forward with his arms outstretched, in the sign of the cross telling the bully that they were not out looking for trouble....... the bully stepped forward and punched David so hard he lifted off the ground and fell backwards, smashing his head onto the kerbside, with a crack that was heard by many bystanders. Daves' friend Alex crouched down to protect his unconsciuos friend as the bully ran off, stopped a cab and left his victim bleeding and broken on the pavement. Dave was taken by ambulance to the hospital, he regained consciousness yet was obviously not well. The doctors were unable to examine David properly as he was himself in drink and quite aggressive in manner. They monitored him and let him sleep til morning, tney then contacted his mother who in turn called his dad who was at work, she told him Dave was in casualty and could he pick him up at lunch time. Daves' father dutifully took a change of clothes for David and headed to casualty to pick up his son. On arrival and after making enquiries as to where Dave was, he was met by a head trauma consultant and informed that Dave had received a fractured skull and would be kept in the intensive care ward.........his father, by now in complete deep shock struggled to make sense of the scene unfolding before him, sat at his sons' bedside staring down at his bruised, puffed face with distended eyes pushing out of his eye sockets the father who had in an earlier life been a medic himself, knew deep down that his son was far from well. The consultant informed him that David had suffered a massive bleed inside the skull and that they needed to operate to release the pressure, he agreed immediately and gave permission to go ahead straight away, while thinking what and how to tell his wife who was waiting for her son to come home through the door at any moment. He left David to undergo the op. and went home to fetch his wife, unable to bring himself to tell her his real thoughts as to how seriously ill David was, preferring to reveal his condition slowly while hoping against hope that Dave was not as bad as he assumed. When they reached the hospital the consultant informed them that the procedure had been completed and that David was sleeping peacefully.......to everyones' great relief. Daves mum and dad sat with him a couple of hours to ensure that he was ok. They were told to come back in the morning so left the hospital at midnight with a sense of relief.......At seven oclock Sunday morning they were called by the hospital to say davids' condition had deteriorated and that he was on life support to aid his breathing......mum and dad were frightened, shaken unable to think or know what to do or say, they sped to the hospital, on arrival they were rushed to the intensive care ward to watch their son struggle to survive. David unofficially died at 9am on sunday, his father begged the consultant to keep him on life support so that he could get Daves' sister who was a combat medic serving in Iraq, home to say goodbye to her big brother and also to have the rest of his siblings around his bed to say goodbye. On Monday at 4pm Daves' life support was turned off and he slid into oblivion. The guy who killed him was sentenced for manslaughter and given 5 years imprisonement.... he served to 2 years with good behaviour..... Daves' family like most victims are serving a life sentence of doubts and misgivings asking constantly where they went wrong, what could they have done differently. To this day, some ten years since Davids' death his father still feels the urge that he would like to kill the man who killed his son ....... How do I know this for sure?... I am Davids' father. Dave used to liken me to an adventurer as seen on the television as I was always banging on to him about my treasure theories........I would give all the treasures in the world to see him walk back through our door. Write what you know and what you feel......well you asked for it!
Anything Goes : Write what you know.........and how you feel! by Kevin Taylor
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Unfortunately Alle, it is the latter. David was a non aggressive, happy go lucky guy who met a belligerent drunken bully and paid with his life. I did not expect a response to my story, it was a spur of the moment urge, to get rid of some of the pent up anger that I still feel. There always appears to be some irony and coincidence, which follows an action from one person and the reaction of another to it! Being notified that you had commented on my post, I noticed that you are Australian. My youngest daughter whom I mentioned in my story, is at present the close protection bodyguard for the Australian ambassador in Baghdad. Since Davids' death and while serving in Afghanistan as a combat medic, she holds the dubious notoriety of being the first female, either English or American to engage and shoot dead a Taliban insurgent in close quarter combat. There in lies the irony. Regards Kevin.
Alle, to write about the circumstances of Davids' death and remain open and objective would require someone other than myself . I am too close to the event, also if I'm honest with myself too emotive to be analitical and calculating, as his story and the compilation of similar stories would require. I also believe that the real benefit from your idea would be to interview and get the story from the killers perspective. As obviously he/her or they are the most influenced to violence by alcohol than their victims! Your thoughts on this? Kevin
Dear Kevin, I am so sorry for your loss. You wanting to kill the drunk idiot that caused your son's death is a perfectly natural reaction, so don't feel bad about that. However, speaking as a recently retired police officer, don't Terminate this idiots existence, no matter how tempting, even if the opportunity arose. You would automatically be the first Prime Suspect. Because of how raw your emotions are right now, you would not be able to successfully out maneuver a skilled Police Interrogation. Give your self time to heal from this tragic loss. Then you'll be able to write the story. This would make a powerful film with a greatly needed message. One Day at a Time, Brother.
Alle, thank you for taking the time to comment and your encouragement with my story. I will try to write it, also I would ask no other but yourself to edit and adapt. I am sure that you can and will complete your own painfull story, no other can do justice to your personal perspective as the emotions, pain and feelings are yours, no one else can convey your inner self. Best wishes Kevin
As a husband and father I was aware when David was killed that I wanted to kill his killer. However I knew that if I followed my anger and emotion my family and myself would suffer yet again . So to put things in perspective I used to wish upon myself a terminal illness, which would enable me to kill this guy and free myself and family from a life sentence. Thankfully, this was not to be. Oh! The dark places our minds go to release the pain we feel.
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Kevin, sometimes grief can make you go into a masochistic tilt. You wish the terminal illness on the criminal perpetrator, not yourself. In regards to your very brave and highly skilled daughter taking out a Taliban. You should be proud of her, because they are truly Human Monsters. If you are uncomfortable with that, please forward my congratulations to her, from a Vietnam Veteran and Retired Federal Police Officer and tell her that I am proud of her and to Be Safe!
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Hi Stephen, Thanks for your kind words and insight relative to my sons' story. My daughter Chantelle, although briefly mentioned in Davids', has a completely separate story. I am presently at work but if your interested I will tell you abit about her exploits, I cannot crow about her exploits whilst telling Daves' story. I am more than proud of her to say the least. Best to you kevin