Pro-Life Works: Who Will Help the Good Samaritan?

May 7, 2010

Who Will Help the Good Samaritan?

By Christopher Donatto

College Intern

People always ask the hypothetical question, “What would you do?” in drastic situations where your decision could end up saving or losing your own life or the life of another.  What would you do if someone put a gun to your head and asked you what you believe in or told you to deny your faith?  What would you if you saw someone crossing the road and you had a chance to save that person from being hit by a car?  Would you jump in front of a bullet for a person?  These scenarios are about whether or not you would risk your life for your beliefs or for the life of another.  On April 18th at 5:30 a.m. on 144th St. and 88th Rd. in Jamaica, Queens, Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax, a 31-year-old homeless Guatemalan immigrant, made a choice and lost his life.  Shortly after, other people dealing with the same situation did not make the same selfless choice.

On the morning of April 18th, a woman was walking along the sidewalk in New York City.  A man approached her from behind and attempted to mug her.  That is when Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax saw this woman in danger and took action.  He was able to save the woman from her assailant; she got away, but he wasn’t so lucky.  Hugo was stabbed multiple times in the torso.  The surveillance video then shows him chasing after the mugger and Hugo ended up collapsing due to his wounds.  Over the span of an hour and a half, over 20 people passed by Hugo and left him lying on the ground, bleeding to death.  Some people stopped to look but continued on.  One man turned him over and nudged him and even though there was a pool of blood, he left him and continued on his way.  Another man passed by, nudged Hugo, took a picture of him, and then walked off.  Eventually fire fighters made it to the scene, but Hugo had already died.  Detectives were able to identify Hugo by taking a picture of him and showing it around the neighborhood.  The police are still searching for the woman who was attacked.  Her attacker is still at large.

Hugo is the son of Juan Pablo Tale and one of six children.  He came to the U.S. after promising his father that he would come and work hard to save up money to buy their family a bigger plot of land.  Hugo was working as a day laborer and when the economy weakened, so did his ability to find work.  He ended up homeless and refused help from others.  When Hugo fell on hard times, he moved from a shelter in Brooklyn to one in Manhattan and then he ended up on the streets.

Why am I writing about this?  Most of the people who will read this are Pro- Life on issues from the cradle to the grave.  But where do we stand when we aren’t voting, when we aren’t protesting or praying in front of Planned Parenthood?  What about when the dignity and sanctity of Life is being threatened right in front of us in our every day life?  I hope and pray that if I had to make a decision like Hugo did that I would make the right one.

When I heard about this situation on the radio, some people were trying to make excuses for people’s behavior, chalking it up to the status quo in the big, cold, impersonal city. But as Pro-Lifers, I hope that we hold ourselves to a higher standard, because it isn’t only about abortion.  It is about the dignity and sanctity of all human Life, something that Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax apparently valued very much.

Hugo was honored at a wake held by his family at a Brooklyn funeral home.  His brother Rolando said that this event sends us a message about humanity.