A few days ago my daughter and her friend came upon a man at a local station, probably drunk but certainly in physical distress, with smashed teeth and bloodied face.

The man was in some mental distress as well, as he repeatedly asked for help to die, and for poison, and claiming acute peritonitis.

My daughter borrowed a mobile, dialled 999 and persisted, eventually with the aid of another bystander, in persuading an uninterested and rude ambulance dispatcher to send a crew. She and her friend waited, missing two trains, until the ambulance arrived and the man was attended to.

My daughter and her friend are both schoolgirls just turned 12.

Shame on the ambulance dispatcher, who must have surely realised he was speaking to a young person trying to cope with an emergency.

I have sympathy with ambulance staff not wanting to get involved with a drunk with mental health problems, especially one identified as a regular, but to ask why ring us if he's not dead yet?' is not an appropriate answer to give anybody, let alone a child.

And shame on us all that someone, no matter how abject or unpleasant, has to be rescued in a public place with bystanders by two schoolgirls.

And bravo, girls, for bravery, determination and pluck. Rescuing a drunk is as brave as rescuing a duke, even if less likely to attract applause.

Finally, thanks to the two policemen who gave the girls a lift down the road.

LARRY TOWNSEND

Park Road

Hackbridge

November 23, 2001 10:00