think of the children (not a joke)

Sad things happen in this world every day - civilians (and for that matter soldiers) dying in various hot spots, people dying of terrible diseases, children maimed by land mines, men and women abused physically, emotionally, mentally. It's all too much to bear much thought without reaching for the homeopathic seratonin to get through the night.

Two sad stories have really affected me lately. The first was the very public story of the little girl who was killed by her father shortly before he took his own life by stepping out in front of a truck on the North Western motorway. There has been much media on this and to be honest I've avoided much of it as it just a terrible story, and reading about it won't help anyone. I was disturbed to see the Herald put a large picture of the little girl on their front page, above the fold, earlier this week - how upsetting for those who knew her, and how does it help anyone? I don't have a problem with a photo accompanying the story, but this was emotional overkill and a cold calculated move to sell more papers by pulling on heartstrings.

The second story wasn't really covered in the media, as far as I know. The Man In The Comfy Chair's mother told it to me on Wednesday night. She is a Plunket nurse, working in South Auckland, and what she imparted was the sad tale of one of the newborns she has cared for recently. Ma and Pa Baby were living with an older couple, who were supporting them. Pa constantly abused Ma, physically and otherwise, and in the end he was thrown out of the house. He persisted in harassing Ma, to the point where he broke into the house, attacked her and left her for dead, then took the baby and drove his car, containing his child, into the nearest tree. He was killed, the child, who was unrestrained in the car, was severely brain-damaged, and the mother recovered in time (physically at least).

A sad story so far, but in fact it gets worse.

The mother and the older couple continue living together, with the baby, when she isn't in hospital. They are reliant on Housing NZ for a roof and, understandably, they would like to shift from the scene of such a horrible experience. Especially as they had to wash the blood stains off the walls themselves and have been unable to totally remove the splashes of red, which are still clearly visible. Their chances of a move currently look slim.

All of this makes me wonder about the society we live in. Are we really in a place where parents who are not coping have no other options?

Update: Some good news - the baby has apparently made a near miraculous recovery from the brain damage - only 1% with this level of damage recover, and this child is one of the lucky ones.