Unfortunately a lot of us will remember seeing a drunk, vulnerable clubber splayed across the pavement, left alone by their ‘friends’ who are too busy dancing to ‘Crazy In Love’ in TigerTiger to look after them.
Or maybe you’ve been the ‘friend’?
It’s easy to get selfish on a night out and put ‘the night’ above a drunk friend in need because ‘it’s their fault for getting so drunk’, right?
Wrong. Volunteer group the Cheltenham Guardians have written a brutally honest letter to the ‘Friends of Emily’ who left their mate on the street, laughed at the situation, and stood the Guardians up when they tried to return her, the Metro reports.
Dear friends of Emily. You may have started your night together enjoying the vibrant bars and clubs of Cheltenham, but…
Posted by Cheltenham Guardians on Saturday, November 12, 2016
The street pastors spent two hours caring for Emily on Friday night in Cheltenham before she was taken to hospital in an ambulance at around 4am.
Throughout the night, the Guardians got in touch with Emily’s friends and they laughed on the phone but agreed to come and collect her twice, but never showed up.
Here’s the full letter:
Dear friends of Emily.
You may have started your night together enjoying the vibrant bars and clubs of Cheltenham, but somewhere along the way you lost your friend, you lost Emily. When we found Emily she had already been sick in the back of a taxi and in the care of taxi marshals.
It’s fair to say she had seen better days. When we contacted you, you told us that you would wait outside a club on Regent Street for her.
We were keen to return her to her friends and into your care. We took Emily to the club and you were not there.
We waited, and still you didn’t come. We contacted you again as we were concerned for Emily’s welfare. It was cold, raining and she was poorly. You found it funny that your friend was in a state, you told us again that you would come for her so we waited, and still you never came.
We called in the street pastors to help us with Emily, we were keen to get her to safety yet only you held the key, you knew where Emily was, you knew where Emily was staying yet still you never came.
Emily told us that she was staying in Montpellier, that’s all she remembered. It was dark, raining hard, you knew where we were yet still you never came.
We walked Emily to Montpellier, we called you again and you promised you would take a taxi and help us help your friend yet still you never came. We told you that we would need to call Emily an ambulance as we could help her no further, we did not have the answers, you did, yet you found it funny, you mocked us, and still you never came.
We called an ambulance, and they came. Friends of Emily, we looked after your friend for two hours. We cared for her unconditionally whilst you purposefully gave us the runaround, hindered our progress, and despite our pleas you never came. One day you may find yourself in our care.
We will care for you unconditionally, we will ensure you are safe. I hope you read this and understand that you tied up valuable resources for over two hours and forced the attendance of an emergency ambulance at a cost to the NHS of £300. Most of all you were not a friend of Emily’s.
I hope you enjoyed your night at the expense of us, South Western Ambulance Service and Emily. Great job guys, you can be really proud of yourselves.
They are doing incredible work caring for drunk young people in their free time, but people shouldn’t be left alone in the first place!
The post has received over 2000 shares on Facebook and has been a wake up call to many.
