Stirring tales of derring-do
- 27 Jan 06, 12:00 AM
After last week's story about Eileen Froggat's response to the four young thugs who broke into her flat, the world's press is suddenly awash with tales of plucky disableds and their heroic deeds. (Oh, OK, there have been two stories. But, hey, that's two more than usual.)
Just last week, "disabled grandpa" David Hanness earned himself his "have-a-go hero" stripes when he in a blue anorak who was suspected of nicking £2000 worth of designer spectacle frames from the Specsavers store in Penge. David has a slipped disc and asthma, so he wasn't able to keep up with his quarry for terribly long. But, nothing daunted, he got into a police van which then drove around for a bit until the bloke was spotted and arrested.
David modestly told the press, "Sometimes you just need to do these things". Good on you, David. Specsavers were so grateful that they gave him a £100 reward and upgraded his and his wife's varifocal frames and lenses free of charge.
But it's not just British crips who can keep a cool head in a crisis. At the Monroe Community Hospital in Rochester, NY, a quiet evening in the patients' smoking room was unexpectedly interrupted by one patient - the somewhat ironically-named Justin Burns - accidentally . Tony Manza, who has spina bifida, wheeled his gurney across to Justin with all possible speed and put out the flames with his bare hands because he "had to do something". Justin had to have skin grafts, but there's no doubt that Tony's swift action saved him from more serious harm. Impressive stuff.
(The article goes on to detail the romance between Tony and his fiancee Sarah, but it all gets a bit too saccharine for cynical old Lady Bracknell's tastes.)
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Comments
Hmmm, designer spectacle frames eh? Lady B, don't fall for anybody offering these at a knockdown proce, I know you're partial to a nice frame.