Pick Me Up! Special – September 2019

I foundhim

clothes

andgave

himsome

food

K BY

so badly that he was almost retching.

He needed to see a doctor.

I asked a McDonald’s staff

member about Darren, and found

out he could be aggressive when

drunk, but was generally a nice guy.

I lived alone, had a spare room.

And was terrified he wouldn’t

survive the night.

My mind was made up. ‘Would

you like to come

with me?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ Darren said gratefully.

Completely forgetting about my

friend, I piled Darren into my car–

and drove to the GP’s to get him

checked over.

It was tough persuading the

doctor to see him, as he was already

known to them for being difficult.

But, seeing how weak he was,

they agreed to treat him.

The doctor

diagnosed him

with the flu.

At mine,

Darren collapsed,

fully dressed, onto

the bed in my

spare room.

I tried to

persuade him to

eat or drink

something, buthe

was too wearyto

even move.

I left him to

sleep, and phoned

the council anda

local homeless

charityto seeif I couldfindhim

someaccommodation.

Buttherewasnothingavailable

forDarren.

So,withouthesitation,I decided

to lethimstayuntilwefoundhim

somewhereto live.

WhenDarrenwokeup,I handed

hima newpairof

trousersanda T-shirt.

I’dguessedhissize

andboughtthemat

thelocalsupermarket

thatmorning.

Buthewastoo

weakto move,and

stayedlyingonthe

sparebedfora week

anda half.

‘Yougohavea hot

bathwhileI washyourclothes,’I

finallypersuadedhimwhenhewas

wellenough.

I tookhisclothes– theysmelt

awful,butI didn’tmind.

I wasdeterminedto help.

Forthefirsttwoweeks,Darren

saidonlya fewwordsto me,buthe

acceptedmyhelpreadily.Andso

whenDarren

recoveredfromthe

flu,I setdowna few

groundrules.

‘Nodrinkingor

smokingin here,’I

instructed.

Henodded,

explainingthathewas

analcoholicbut

wantedto quit.

Determined,he

kepthispromise,and

eachweekI tookhim

to thealcoholcentre.

Theywereamazed

at hisprogress.

I soonrealisedthat

Darrenhadnoteeth,so

I organisedto takehim

to thedentistto have

denturesfitted.

I neversawthe

aggressivesideI’dbeen

warnedabout.

Wegotonwell,

sharinga similarsense

of humour.

ButI knewthatDarren

couldn’tstayin my

homeforever.

Hewasa grownman

andbothof us hadour

ownlivesto lead.

Overfourweeks,I did

everythingpossibleto

findsomewherefor

Darrento live.

I evenorganiseda

meetingwitha local

councilloron 28 February.

Thatmorning,Darren

packeduphisbelongings,

knowingthatwhatever

happened,laterthatdaywe’dbe

goingourseparateways.

Atthemeeting,thecouncildidn’t

deemDarrenphysicallyor mentally

vulnerable,so sadly,hedidn’t

qualifyforaccommodation.

DarrenandI slowlywalkedto the

towncentrein

disappointedsilence.

‘I’mso sorry,’I

toldDarren,utterly

heartbrokenthatmy

effortshadn’tcome

to anything.

‘Thankyoufor

everythingyou’ve

done,’hegrinned,

beforewrappingme

in a gianthug.

EventhoughDarrenis nowback

onthestreets,I’mstilllookingout

forhim,evenarrangingto takehim

to follow-updentistappointments.

I knowthattakingDarrenintomy

homewasa risk,butit wasoneI

couldaffordto take.

Afterall,humankindnessdoesn’t

haveto costa thing.

REAL LIFE

I hope Darren

inspires people

to be kinder

I still look out for

him and hope he

stays safe

Darren visited

the dentist