– I was walking up a walkway when I tripped and fell face first. It hurt a lot, says Lilly Hennie Svenskerud (73) to Dagbladet.
It is barely two weeks since Svenskerud, who lives in Gjøvik, fell on a footpath by a main road at Kopperud in Gjøvik.
The 73-year-old was left lying, badly bruised, while several cars just drove past – without stopping.
– I thought it was absolutely terrible that no one stopped. If you see someone lying on the side of the road, you stop to help. It costs so little, but can be significant, she says.
Svenskerud says that she does not quite remember exactly how many cars drove past, but there were a couple of cars, she recalls.
It was Oppland Arbeiderblad that mentioned the case first.
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– Black all over the face
The accident happened in Vestre Totenveg around ten in the morning.
– It happened so late that people were in no hurry to get to work, says Svenskerud, who says that she is disappointed that no one stopped.
She herself estimates that she lay there for around seven minutes before, after turning and twisting around, she finally got back on her feet.
– Then I took the first bus to the doctor. I am on blood thinners and my face was almost black. So I was quite worried, she says.
However, the doctor found that she fortunately suffered from nothing but minor bleeding.
– I still have some heavy bruises under my eyes, says the 73-year-old, who says that she is on the road to recovery.
– Insane
Svenskerud says that she has subsequently heard from others that one of the motorists who drove straight past must have apologized by saying that he thought there was a drug addict lying there.
There is no good reason not to stop, believes the 73-year-old.
– I mean that it is absolutely sick. Shouldn’t one also give help to drug addicts? They have just as much demand for help as anyone else, she says and says that she used to work at Kampen café in Gjøvik, an offer for, among other things, people struggling with drug addiction.
– If you see someone who needs help, it doesn’t hurt to ask if they need help, she encourages.
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Operations manager Bård Einar Hoft in the Innlandet police tells Oppland Arbeiderblad that on a general basis it is assumed that most people stop if they perceive that someone needs help.
– The Criminal Code also says something about this. Without my knowledge of this case, it may seem that it is more about morality, ethics and pure humanity, says Hoft to the newspaper.
According to section 287 of the Criminal Code, one can be punished with a fine or imprisonment of up to six months for neglecting the duty to help.
This means, among other things, that one fails to help a person who is in obvious danger of losing his life or suffering significant damage to his body or health.
