‘Let’s be our brother’s keeper’
Published:Tuesday | October 22, 2024 | 12:08 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Jamaicans are being encouraged to be more caring towards each other, as a simple act of kindness may just save someone else’s life.
The call comes from Jermaine Hurst, who was awarded a badge of honour for gallantry after demonstrating exceptional courage and compassion in preventing a potential victim attempting suicide, thereby saving a life and inspiring hope in others facing similar struggles.
“Let’s be our brother’s and sister’s keeper ... do good in your neighbourhood,” he said after being bestowed the award at the annual National Honours and Awards Investiture Ceremony, held yesterday at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.
“You extend sympathy or you extend your kindness to someone and, without looking that you’ll get anything back in return, and to see that they are rewarding me today. It just goes to show that you can lend a helping hand to someone where they are. However small it may be or however short it may be, you never know, because sometimes persons just need someone to be there for them,” he said.
Hurst, who is known in his community of Kitson Town, St Catherine as someone “who is always giving an encouraging word”, said he had no idea that one day this “gift” would prevent someone from committing suicide.
He recalled that it was about midday in April last year when, after dropping off his wife, Dahlia Hurst, for work, he visited a section of the Portmore Causeway to do some fishing.
He then noticed a woman walk past him towards the sea. The 45-year-old said he was curious, as she was at a lonely spot by herself. He then became concerned when he noticed that she had left her car running with the air conditioning on and windows down.
INTENTION TO DIE
So he asked her what was wrong.
“She told me that her intention was to jump off, and she was serious and she made up her mind,” he said.
“When I heard her intention, it just totally made me feel like ‘there is no escape from this now, it’s just me and she there, and I just have to do whatever I can do to help her’,” he said.
This included an almost two-hour talk with her, trying to get her to live for her three children.
“I was bringing her back to the birth of the first one. I was saying, ‘remember the first day at school’ ... going back to stages like those where I think there and then it would bring her back to the reality of knowing that she leaving her kids,” he said.
The barber of more than 20 years has no formal training in counselling or crisis management, but said his workplace is often a space where his clients open up to him and he offers advice.
He eventually called the police, who arrived along with a rescue boat with medical personnel, and members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, who commended him for his work in preventing a potential suicide.
As news of his valour spread, his community and colleagues also heaped praises on him.
However, it is the pride that his wife and three children found in his act of bravery that brings him the most gratification.
“However much he can assist others, he’s always doing it,” Dahlia said. “Sometimes you want to be in the barber shop, especially on a Sunday ... once they come, if persons have problems and so, they tend to relate to him.”
Hurst said he still keeps in touch with the woman he assisted, and that she is doing well.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis, call the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Helpline – 888-NEW-LIFE.