Fatal accidents; corruption; suicides; court battles… These are among the topics that make up ‘the dark side’ of news.
Peppered between stories dealing with these issues we typically find informative news items that announce new projects, initiatives or appointments.
And, every now and again, we read a story about someone selfless who shines through all the darkness and the mundane headlines.
We recently had two of these news gems.
The first involved a stranger who helped a former Paralympian change a burst tyre: Thomas Borg was driving home when he hit a pothole, which tore his tyre in the Ta’ Kandja area of Siġġiewi. The 22-year-old sales representative and former Paralympian pulled over and began fixing the tyre – a slow process for a man born without a right forearm.
Borg spoke about how, in the 30 minutes it took him to lift the car, hundreds of cars drove past. But none stopped. Until a Pakistani food delivery man called Hajat pulled up next to him and helped him.
In the second story, Scottish national Derek Abbot told us how he and two other strangers came together to perform CPR on a 19-year-old Italian woman who suffered a seizure while swimming at Ta’ Fra Ben, in Qawra.
The Malta Red Cross praised Abbot’s actions and said that his “courageous actions undoubtedly helped save a life”.
Hajat and Abbot both helped people they did not know – because they wanted to and because it was the right thing to do.
They got nothing out of their selfless actions. But they gave so much: and not only to the people they actually helped.
Their actions reminded us that good deeds still happen.
Many people still have kindness in their hearts. People still feel for one another and people still connect.
And, yes, sadly, these are things that we need to remind ourselves – even though we see them in small dozes in our daily lives by people we know.
Because the busy, detached lives we lead mean we choose not to have time to stop and see if someone needs help.
Some of us might not even notice someone is in need as we live inside our heads mapping out the day and hours ahead oblivious to what is right in front of our eyes.
Apart from this, we are bombarded by a culture of mistrust where people are scared to trust – or stop to help – strangers.
And the constant exposure to bad news has made many of us numb to the plight that some of us face – like the realities of migrants or third country nationals coming to Malta to work to help their families – like Hajat.
What is certain is that when these stories make it to the news platforms they are among the most read. People want to read about these gestures of kindness, that there is a semblance of kindness and trust amid an often cacophonic world, dictated by social media platforms.
We need these stories because they provide a ray of hope, a reason to smile and remind us that we remain human at heart.
They set a good example, and maybe, next time, if someone needs something we will remember these stories and the people behind them and stop to help.
Our small kind gesture might not save a life or make the headlines. But it will leave a ripple in someone’s life. And maybe – just maybe – if there are enough of these little ripples, they might change the current disconnected narrative we have forced ourselves to get used to.