Flight, fight or… Hello McDreamy… sigh!

It is an interesting point to note that late December sees an increase in accidents and suicides. Or so say the statistics. We need to be extra careful, of course, but also a bit more ready than usual to help. Having witnessed several accidents and violent acts I’ve learned how important it is to overcome that initial ‘freeze’ reaction and do something, however small. Fight, Flight or Freeze responses are not always under our control as they manifest before our rational brain has figured out what is happening. If you realize you are in a freeze response mode that is not helpful, do your best to act in some way - call the emergency line, or tell someone, or even step in and help if you feel you are able. If we can each do something useful, big or small, the situation typically gets better for those in trouble. If it were us or our loved ones in trouble, we would want that help from a friend or a stranger.
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Have you ever had a fantasy about being in trouble and being rescued by Idris Elba or McDreamy? Or Demi Moore, Kate Winslet? Did you know it could really happen? What if I was in trouble in a theatre in England and Idris was on stage. Would he stop the play and help me if I had a medical emergency? That is exactly what he did for a woman having a seizure on July 3rd, 2019. He stayed with her right up until the ambulance arrived. Almost worth having a seizure for? Almost?

​Are you a Cumberbitch like me? Benedict jumped out of an Uber in London to defend a man beset by four muggers. The Uber driver followed him into the fray and they saved the victim. Tom Hardy and even Daniel Radcliffe (I say “even” because I still think of him as 14-years old although he is 30 now) have tackled muggers too.

Weston Masset crashed his car and asked his rescuer “Are you famous?” “Yes, I’m a doctor,” replied Patrick (McDreamy) Dempsey, jokingly. Vin Diesel, Jamie Foxx and Mark Harmon have also pulled people out of car wreckage and were credited with saving lives, as was Danny Trejo who pulled a baby from an overturned car. Tom Cruise called paramedics at one accident scene and then personally paid the $7,000 fee as the crash victim didn’t have medical insurance.
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Is it rare for celebrities to step up and help in an emergency? Not at all, and we hear of many visiting areas of famine or natural disaster to render aid personally and to use their notoriety to highlight the issue. Or adopting children from impoverished situations.

Demi Moore noticed one of her twitter followers reaching out in some distress and got them in touch with suicide prevention. It would have been easy for her to overlook or ignore strange social media activity. Michael Rapaport was on a flight from Houston to Los Angeles and saw a man with both hands on the lever of the emergency exit door trying to open it. He rushed over and pinned the man to his seat. The man later told police he was trying to get into the toilet.

Steve Buscemi was a firefighter in New York before he was a famous actor and in the 9/11 attack he rushed back to his old unit and spent several days helping sift through the gruesome carnage. Kate Winslet was staying at a house that caught fire and stopped to help a 90-year old woman escape. The woman was Richard Branson’s mother. John Malkovich witnessed a man fall onto scaffolding and rip his neck open. Malkovich staunched the blood flow until help arrived.

Harrison Ford is a private pilot and donates his time and aircraft to search and rescue. He rescued two lost hikers, one with severe dehydration, in his personal helicopter. Gerard Butler saved a drowning boy by jumping in after him. Clint Eastwood saved a man with the Heimlich maneuver.
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The above celebrities have helped strangers, sometimes at great risk, which is awesomely courageous, but I am not advocating anyone do anything they think is beyond their own ability and comfort level. Sometimes all we need to do is tell someone else, or call emergency services, or find a way to be helpful after the fact. If we all do something in an emergency, however small, it will help. Sometimes all that takes is to ask yourself “Am I frozen, or could I do something?”
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I wish you all a safe passage through the end of 2019. And if you can’t be safe, I ask that your favourite celebrity rescues you in the nick of time.