The Good Samaritan & Raymond Zach

The death of Raymond Zach has gripped my heart. I can’t seem to put it to rest & have cried about it as if i knew those involved, and i don’t. This kind of disregard for human life should not happen anywhere, ever. In case you haven’t heard about the tragic end to Mr. Zach’s life on Monday, i'll fill you in. Let’s start with the headline: Police, Firefighters Stand By and Watch As Man Drowns. While we were all busy celebrating Memorial Day, 52 yr old Raymond Zach, a man who’d suffered with depression for decades, waded 150 yds into the icy bay waters off Alameda, CA to drown himself. It took over an hour. All the while police, firefighters, first responders, and dozens of citizens stood around and watched. They did nothing to help Raymond Zach. They just stood around and watched. Simply unconscionable.

Why? Because of local government bureaucracy. Evidently a 2009 dept policy prohibited water rescues due to budget cuts that ended water rescue training. That excuse just doesn’t cut it with me. There weren’t any first responders, firefighters or police officers on the scene that were trained prior to just 2 years ago? Bull. Remember 9/11 when Firefighters, First Responders & Police Officers by the hundreds ran into the Twin Towers & The Pentagon to save those in danger? But we don’t even need to evoke memories of 9/11 really. In America that kind of heroism occurs every day at accident scenes, burning buildings, emergencies, etc. Men and women risk and oftentimes lay down their lives for others to serve & protect their fellow citizens. Just not in Alemeda, California sadly and on Memorial Day no less.

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I have to wonder what must have been going through the mind of Raymond Zach as his body was slowly turning to ice, watching all those men in uniform & spectators just standing around, confirming what he must have felt about himself for years.... That he wasn’t worth saving, that no one cared if he lived or died, that he was worthless. Dear God.

The events surrounding the death of Raymond Zach remind me of the Biblical parable about the Good Samaritan. In chapter 10 of the book of Luke, Jesus is explaining what it means to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” He shares a story of a man who was beaten & robbed by thieves then left for dead. Soon a Priest then a Levite come upon the battered man, but both do nothing to help him, even going so far as to cross the street to avoid him, all because of their misguided, legalistic interpretation of religious policy. But finally a Samaritan comes along and takes mercy on the beaten man. He carries him to safety, bandages his wounds, & provides for him a healing refuge. Jesus ends the story by telling the expert in the law that to love thy neighbor means to “Go and do likewise” as the good Samaritan.

One need not be religious to understand the decency in loving and showing mercy to others, especially when they are so clearly in desperate need of help. I think i’ve mourned over the senseless death of Raymond Zach because it’s more about a mourning over the depravity of humanity in this case. It’s hard to wrap my brain around the fact that so many stood around and watched a man die, doing nothing. I don't understand it. And as the parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us, our fallible species has been struggling to practice compassion & love for thousands of years. It’s just so disappointing to see how precious little we’ve learned in all this time about doing the right thing.

Much like Jesus' parable, a modern day Good Samaritan finally emerged late Monday, thankfully. After the body of Raymond Zach rose to the surface of the bay, one woman, not a man dressed in uniform or hampered by government bureaucracy or equipped with fancy gear, bravely swam into 55 degree waters and pulled Mr. Zach's nearly 300 lb lifeless body to shore for his family. And to Alameda California's credit, the community has been in an uproar over the failure to help Raymond Zach. So much so, the 2009 policy preventing water rescues was revoked Wednesday. I pray no other family ever has to endure the injustice of what befell the Zach family on Monday. I pray we all choose to be the Good Samaritan whenever we see others suffering. I pray no one ever feels so hopeless & desperate that the only solution they see is to take their own life. That's just agonizing to me. Most importantly though, i pray that Raymond Zach is at peace and in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father today.