"I was feeling quite exhausted after the flight, and while walking down a steep cobblestone street, I tripped. I flew through the air and fell flat on the ground, face first. For some reason, the instinct to put my hands out to cushion the fall hadn't kicked in, so I landed straight on my chin. I knew immediately that my jaw was broken I'd heard the awful crack. Before long, blood was gushing down my face."
"One of those people was an Italian woman, who opened her handbag and took out a pristine white handkerchief with a lace trim. She handed it to me and said: Use this to clean up the blood. I protested, saying I didn't want to ruin her lovely hanky, but she insisted. Before long the ambulance came and I was whisked off to hospital."
I visited Naples with my daughter and, on the first day, I tripped on a steep cobblestone street and fell face first, breaking my jaw. Blood gushed down my face and a crowd gathered to help. An Italian woman took a pristine white handkerchief from her handbag, handed it to me, and insisted I use it to clean the blood despite my protests. An ambulance arrived and I was taken to hospital. The woman's unobtrusive, selfless act—sacrificing something beautiful without expecting anything in return—became a lasting reminder of kindness, so I kept and washed the handkerchief.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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