Got a phone call recently from an old friend of mine who was letting me know his brother was going to start work in London soon and wanted me to be there for him in case he needed a hand with anything (like walk him through how stuff works here in the UK, etc).
Was happy for him and of course I told him I’d take care of his brother (who’s also been a friend of mine for ages – childhood fiends)
Day X comes (today) … completely forgot about it (but was no problem, in case of problems I knew I would get a phone call) … I get a phone call from the bus driver asking me to pick my friend up from a location outside London (where the bus stopped) …
My mind was like … wtf … did nobody pick him up ? What happened ? I asked the driver to put my friend on the phone who was aking me to help him because ppl are after him and stuff like that…
Panic mode on! Called another friend to help me pick him up then called his brother to let him know about this and also called the Police to find him and stay with him or take him to a safe place untill I got there (explained the situation to them).
Took a bit to get there (1 – 1.5h) … found him with the Police officers … he was in a bad state, really shaken up, afraid, as in really afraid, like his life was under threat …
I started by trying to get him to calm down a bit, seeing a friendly face should help, also acted as a translator here and there for the Police officers on site but it was clear for all of us there were pieces we could not add up (his story did not make sense, he was in shock and sometimes felt like he was talking nonsense).
The Police officers called a mental health nurse there to help evaluate him and it was clear something was wrong … it was impossible for him to trust anybody … even me who he knew for ages … and he was constantly shaking (not due to cold but due to fear, he was jumpy if touched)
After talking about stuff and thinking maybe he managed to calm down a bit … out of the blue … he started running and shouting … the officers went after him and caught him but that sealed the deal for him … this escalated to a level where that was no longer an option … they had to restrain him …
I asked the officers if I could go with them to the hospital where they wanted to take him but they told me that was not an option at this time. They did save my number and told me what hospital they were taking him to and that next day I could call the hospital and check on things and if ok maybe be allowed to visit.
This whole situation fucked me up a bit … I mean the Police officers and the nurse were more than helpful (amazing ppl, outstanding job) … but for me this was a bit of a shock considering it happened to him, a friend but not any friend, my old friend’s brother … I simply did not see this coming.
Adding up everything (I know about his situation at home and the family problems) I realize why this happened BUT was not expecting this to happen to him.
Currently waiting until tomorrow then will call the hospital to see how he’s doing and if I can visit so that I can let his family know about his state and consider next steps.
I’m no medic BUT I tell you this – make sure you talk with your friends and family members often enough to prevent stuff like this from happening because if you don’t you could end up loosing them and not understanding why.
…
A few days later I managed to see him in the hospital and talk with the medical staff and as it turns out this was alcohol related … my friend wanted to make a change in his life and decided to stop drinking at all the day he left the country (which is a bad thing if you’re a heavy drinker) and that caused a severe case of withdrawal.
I’m happy to report that, at this moment in time, my friend is living and working in the UK and most importantly not drinking anymore 🙂