Not Everyone Just Stands And Watches

New Yorkers are known for their fast paced lives and disregard for their surroundings. In Captain America: The First Avenger, a scene set in the 50’s shows a little boy being thrown into a river, unlike the New Yorkers that were already on the scene, Captain America jumped in to save the little boy. The people who were already around didn’t do anything to help, they kept themselves out of the situation, it represents the way New Yorkers still act when problematic situations threaten to unfold around them.

A trio of joggers broke that New Yorker stereotype in the early morning of Wednesday June 1st when they jumped into the East River to save a suicidal man. David Blauzvern, a regular New York civilian, and definitely no Captain America, was jogging by the East River before going to work when he saw a man in the water waving his arms around and screaming. Without a second thought, Blauzvern jumped into the water to help the man stay afloat.

There had already been 10 to 15 onlookers when Blauzvern jumped into the water, yet he was the only one to jump in. Until he was joined by two other joggers, 29 year old John Green, and off-duty NYPD Captain, Gary Messina.

Together these three men who had gone out for a jog and unexpectedly came across this scene, held the man in the water up until help arrived. The NYPD Harbor crew threw the three good samaritans life rings and a life jacket to pull everyone onto their boat. Without giving it a second thought, these three civilians jumped into the water to help someone they didn’t even know.

“There wasn’t really much thought behind it,”said Blauzvern. “You see a guy drowning, you jump in to help.” Unlike Messina, Green and Blauzvern are not trained to deal with situations like this. Natural instincts kicked in.  They knew they had to help, because it was the right thing to do.

“These two gentlemen that jumped in were the actual real heroes. This is my job, this is what I’m trained to do, but these guys did it out of the goodness of their heart,” said Messina. “These are good guys.” Regardless of his thoughts, Messina, like Blauzvern and Green, is a hero in the eyes of many New Yorkers. They all took action when they saw that the man was in trouble, and they all managed to save his life.

One can only hope New Yorkers take this situation and learn from it. Instead of being the people watching, you can be part of the people trying to help.