While we always encourage you to get out and about to enjoy all the great things in London that we hear about - talking in toilets, the stars, graffiti, cool clubs, groovy gigs and nice parks in one week alone - we also like to share the joys of staying in. The pleasures of curling up on the sofa with your very own Londonist selection of TV highlights could actually save your life and show you the kindness of strangers.
Noeline Muyanja, a 34-year-old mother of four copied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation she had seen on the hospital drama series Holby City and saved the life of Tito, her one-year-old son. When the little boy had an unexpected fit one night in Mitcham, south London, last June, Muyanja was understandably panicked.
It was midnight, and she was alone with three other young children in the house and her husband was at work; running outside and screaming for help is acceptable in those circumstances. The unconscious boy was not breathing but after blowing into his mouth and pressing on his chest as she had seen on TV, Tito revived and was taken to hospital for a three-day stay. He recovered well after his extremely high temperature was brought down, though Muyanja remains cautious.
Almost 50 people came onto the street, despite the late hour and a stranger held the boy as the family waited for the ambulance; a neighbour stayed with the other children while mother and son went to the hospital. Support from concerned well-wishers buoyed the family through a panicky, upsetting night and Muyanja is still trying to thank each person who came to her aid that night.
We like to think TV can teach you an awful lot but that being good neighbours and being kind to strangers is something that comes naturally and not from the blinking box in the living room.
