Where have all the Good Samaritans gone?

My daughter (19) and her male friend (21) were travelling by train back to Brighton from London this week, where they are both at university.

My daughter’s friend began choking on a sweet and was unable to breathe.

My daughter, who is of small build, was frantically thumping on his back, trying to dislodge the sweet while shouting for help from her fellow passengers of whom there were about ten in the carriage.

No one came to their aid. She looked one gentleman straight in the eye and asked him for help and he turned away.

Eventually, and thankfully, after about a minute and a half the sweet flew out.

This young man was crying and they were both understandably distressed.

People in the carriage then proceeded to chat amongst themselves saying, “I would have helped if I thought it was for real,” and so forth.

On recounting this incident to me, my daughter was more traumatised by the fact that no one came to her aid.

I could understand if this was a crime and people were afraid to intervene, but this young man was choking in front of them and someone’s son could have died.

The purpose of this letter is to ask anyone who was in that carriage and is reading this to reflect upon why they did nothing to help.

How would they have felt if this was them or their loved one? They talk about the “youth of today” but are all the adult role models hiding behind their newspapers?

I was worried about my daughter being a victim of crime when she left home to go to university but, I wonder, is it far worse to be a victim of someone turning the other cheek and for her to lose faith in humanity?

Jude Hill, Stamford, Lincolnshire