I have known Danny since he was 13, that is over 35 years now. A fabulous Nigerian-Irish Jew. We met at Bonsall Holiday Camp, which is our centre up in Derbyshire. Danny helps us and works alongside us at Green Pastures and has been trained as a social worker. He is a great guy, full of compassion.
One day, when he came in just prior to Christmas 2006, he unfolded a story of how he had saved a man's life.
Dealing with difficult people, those that have fallen through the net, there are occasions when fights arise. Danny had been down at our Derby Road site and outside number 6, when out staggered a man who he thought at first was drunk, who then collapsed on the floor. Then he saw the trail of blood that followed after him and he noticed that his leg and trousers were covered in blood and that he had been stabbed.
Danny cradled the man in his arms and phoned for an ambulance and did what he could to staunch the flow of blood from the leg. As the blood continued to flow, the man grew paler and paler. This was not one of our tenants, but he had been visiting someone in the house. An argument had ensued and the man had lashed out at him with a knife and stabbed him in the thigh, evidently puncturing a vein or an artery that had caused this horrific bleeding.
The good news is that the ambulance arrived in time and the paramedics were able to take the patient to hospital and his life was saved. But, I thought to myself, as Danny told the story, that this is sometimes part of our daily life, as we continue to look after those people. Across the country now we are looking after over 270 of them.
As we look forward to the coming year, I just pray that God will help us always to be in the right place at the right time and, if necessary, to save a life in the 'natural'.
Read some of their stories as recounted by Pastor Pete Cunningham, director of Green Pastures.