Guardian Angel in our Midst?by Susan Jennings |
1998Mark intervened when a gang of bullies assaulted Angela. The injuries that she had already received required in-patient treatment. In a tragic twist to the usual aftermath to one of these incidents, Mark received a beating from the gang for interrupting their 'sport' and was yet accused by Mrs Peters of being part of said gang.1999When the temporary seating at the local stadium collapsed, Mark was able to catch Angela, preventing her from being crushed, and dislocating his elbow. Despite the pain, he also pulled me and many others out of danger - he was the "mystery youth" whose praises could be found in many newspapers at the time. Despite several weeks in a sling, Mark felt that he had got off lightly, as he wasn't the target of abuse from Mrs Peters.2000Seing Angela slip out of her window at night to meet her boyfriend in the park, and feeling that she was out of her league with the older boy, he followed her. Angela was about to be sexually assaulted, and possibly raped, when Mark interrupted them. She escaped relatively unscathed, but Mark received a severe beating from the enraged 'boyfriend'. Only the intervention of my boyfriend and me prevented a real tragedy. By now Mark had garnered an unwarranted reputation as a troublemaker and a thug, so he received no sympathy for his condition, which kept him bedridden for several weeks.2001Today, as Mark lies in a coma after putting himself between a gunman and Angela, that same reputation is causing people to question the truth of what happened six months ago. He can't - and wouldn't - defend himself, so I am doing it for him. Mrs Peters sometimes calls her daughter 'my Angel'; I have to tell you now that, by his actions, Mark has proved himself to be an Angel too, at least in my eyes, and now, I hope, in yours. |
|
|
Shot youth still in coma after rescuing same girl 11 times. Today a
young man lies in a coma. 6 months ago he risked his life to save the life of
young woman, the daughter of his neighbour. Without a second thought he
'took a bullet' as the American Secret Service say. This is an amazing story
of itself. However, this is not the end of the tale. 6 months after the Building Society robbery, Mark Connors, 18, is still in a coma. He was shot by a robber while protecting neighbour Angela Peters. Mark's "taking the bullet" for Angela is the 11th time he's rescued her. Instead of recognition, all he got was slander and abuse. Having been neighbour to Mark and Angela since their birth, and having witnessed or taken part in most of the events described below, I feel obligated to tell Mark's story. It seems uncertain now that he will ever regain consciousness, and I am again hearing disparaging remarks against his character, so I wish to set the record straight. 1990The first incident happened when Mark was 7 and Angela 4. Mrs Peters, Angela's mother, left her outside in her pushchair while doing purchases. When the pushchair was jostled by a dog and began to roll downhill, Mark stopped it. Alarmed by her daughter's cries, Mrs Peters jumped to conclusions and accused Mark of trying to hurt her daughter.1991On the same downhill street, Mark prevented a runaway shopping trolley from crushing Angela, taking himself, the brunt of the shock. When she found him holding the trolley and her daughter crying, Mrs Peters deduced he was responsible. This became a pattern. Over the years, Mark would leave the scene of a rescue, even if he had been injured, rather than risk the inevitable tirade.1992Mark saved Angela as she fell from the climbing frame that used to be in the local playground. He broke her fall, but at the cost of a broken nose, a mild concussion and a bleeding scalp wound. He told no one of the cause of his injuries. |
1993When swimming in the river with all the neighbourhood children, Angela got caught in the reeds. Mark was able to untangle her and bring her close to shore. Mrs Peters heaped further abuse on him for apparently upsetting her daughter.1994This is the first incident I witnessed in full. Angela stepped onto a street just as a car swept around a blind bend. The driver of the car, distracted by a conversation, never saw her. Mark grabbed her and pulled her out of the car's way. Before Mark or I could speak to explain the situation, a weeping Angela's mother berated Mark for injuring her daughter, struck him and knocked him to the ground.1995Angela and her friends played a trick on Mark in the local department store, slipping lingerie items into his bag while he was browsing in the bookstore. Mark realised their actions when a guard stopped him, and managed escaping an accusation of theft. As Angela and her accomplices had been caught on CCTV, they would probably have been arrested along with him.1996When Mark witnessed Angela and her friends pushing childish experimentation too far and saw Angela drinking half a bottle of brandy, he intervened and tried - successfully - to make her vomit to avoid alcohol poisoning. Covered in regurgitated brandy and half digested food, Mark helped the drunken girl to leave the woods and to make their way back to her house. I came upon them as they were leaving the woods and Mark asked me to 'phone for an ambulance. Unfortunately by now Angela's friends had alerted Mrs Peters and Mark was accused of being drunk and assaulting her daughter. The timely arrival of the paramedics prevented the crowd from lynching him.1997Mark protected Angela from serious injury by a falling scaffolding pole. He pushed her from the path of the pole. As a result, he suffered lacerations from the chips thrown up from the paving stones and severe bruising to his shoulder. Unwilling even to attempt to explain his participation in a rescue, Mark was already leaving the scene when I caught up with him and persuaded him that he needed hospital treatment. |
|