The best way to help is often just to listen | Sophie Andrews

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2018

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A 24-hour helpline in the UK known as Samaritans helped Sophie Andrews become a survivor of abuse rather than a victim. Now she's paying the favor back as the founder of The Silver Line, a helpline that supports lonely and isolated older people. In a powerful, personal talk, she shares how the simple act of listening (instead of giving advice) is often the best way to help someone in need.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This TED Talk features Helpline hero Sophie Andrews, recorded live at TEDmed 2017.
0:09.0	After cutting her arm with the broken glass, she fell into a fitful exhausted sleep on the railway station platform.
0:18.0	Early in the morning, when the station toilets were opened, she got painfully to her feet and made a way over to them
0:23.5	when she saw her reflection in the mirror she started to cry
0:27.8	her face was dirty and tear-stained her shirt was ripped and covered in blood
0:33.2	she looked as if she'd been on the streets for three months
0:36.7	and not three days she washed herself as if she'd been on the streets for three months and not three days.
0:39.2	She washed herself as best she could.
0:41.9	Her arms and stomach were hurting badly.
0:45.3	She tried to clean the wounds, but any pressure she applied just started the bleeding again.
0:51.4	She needed stitches, but there was no way she could go to a hospital.
0:56.1	They'd have sent her back home again, back to him.
1:00.2	She tightened her jacket, well fastened her jacket tightly to cover the blood.
1:05.5	She looked back at herself in the mirror.
1:08.0	She looked a little better than before, but was past caring. There was only one
1:13.3	thing she could think of doing. She came out of the station and into a phone box nearby.
1:30.5	Samaritans, can I help you?
1:35.9	Hello, Samaritans, can I help you?
1:38.0	I don't know.
1:40.2	What's happened?
1:42.2	You sound very upset.
1:49.0	Why not start with your name? I'm Pam. What can I call you?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.