I recently read a story reported by a major
television news station that took me by complete surprise for its’ life
affirming message and the inspiration and simplicity of the man about whom it
was written: 86 year-old Don Ritchie, who had recently died in Sydney.
Don lived in the Sydney bayside area of
Watson’s Bay, close to a place called ‘The Gap’, a high cliff overlooking the Pacific
Ocean, infamous for the hundreds of people who have ended their lives by
throwing themselves from it.
Don, a former navy seaman and ironically,
life insurance salesman, had lived in Watson’s Bay his whole life and over the
years became a local hero after one day deciding to do something about the
disturbing numbers of people committing suicide on his doorstep.
He began patrolling the paths around the
Gap in order to coax the desperate away from danger, sometimes even forcibly
removing them from the edge. He
would talk to them, trying to calm them down by offering help and inviting them
into his home for tea. Don never
knew how many people he helped, but Watson’s Bay locals believe it may have
been up to 160 people. Numbers
aside, Don did something we can all do, every single day. His total conviction in the absolute
value of human life and his generosity of heart allowed him to give hope to
those most in need of it.
He urged people to never be afraid to speak
up. In an interview from a few
years ago, Don said, “you can’t live here and just watch them kill themselves.
Well, I can’t”; “always remember the power of a simple smile, a helping hand, a
listening ear and a kind word.”
In a world that says it’s okay to end
the life of a child in the womb, where the elderly and the vulnerable are
targeted through assisted suicide and euthanasia and where the disabled are
shamelessly removed from society through eugenic abortion, Don did what he knew
to be right and fought for the lives of those who couldn’t or didn’t want to
fight for themselves.
When Don’s wife Moya asked him what he said
to people contemplating suicide, he said, “I go over and sell them life.”
This is exactly what we need to do
too.
