Out of the blue

We heard a helicopter circling round this morning. This isn't an uncommon experience here. We even have them at night with searchlights weeping the area. We thought no more anout it, but then we saw a large red Virgin medical helicopter parked on the Common just in front of the Roehampton Church School's Infants' Department.          
              Something serious must have happened. A few minutes later I had to go to pick up some dry cleaning from Roehampton High Street. As I was walking along Roehampton Lane I saw four ambulances parked on the Lane just by the Library. Their lights were flashing but there was no noise. The great temptation is to try to get a closer look. But that gets in the way of the emergency services, so I crossed the road to go about my business. It was then that I bumped into Mrs A, a member of the congregation. She was very shaken and tearful. She had seen it all.
           Just as she was crossing the road by the Library she had looked up to the top of Allbrook House, the block that stands over the Library. It's about ten storeys high. Something had caught her attention. Then she realised what it was. A man was falling. It was over in an instant.
          It appears that the man was killed. The emercency services had got there within a few minutes, and they covered the body with a sheet.
          We have forty three tower blocks in Roehampton, and we have had many falls over the years. I have taken the funerals of a few of them. Most often, you can't really get at what happened, the circumstances are just too confused. It is so sad. We hope and pray that the family will be consoled, and that there may be peace at the last.