As a community we've had a lot of discussion here at Daily Kos, most of it around a month ago, surrounding the tragic death of Djimytai Damour at a New York Wal-Mart on Black Friday.
We discussed what it meant to live in a society in which human beings would trample one another underfoot for a deal on a TV. We remarked upon Wal-Mart's bizarre conception of its relationship with temporary workers. We stood aghast at the company's tendency to view every event, even a tragedy such as this, through the lens of profit. We argued about whether it was Wal-Mart's fault, and we discussed what the store might have done different. My friends at Wake-Up Wal-Mart, with whom I'm proud to work, raised money here for Damour's family.
Now there's a new development in the story. Leana Lockley, the pregnant woman whom Jdimytai Damour died saving, is telling her tale:
"There were so many people on top of me it just went silent," Lockley said. "I started hearing my teeth grinding in my mouth and my body being crushed. I really thought I lost my baby."
Then Damour came in to save her:
"My back was to the crowd. His chest was facing the crowd. He had his hands up. Unfortunately, the crowd overpowered him. He fell back on me. That's when I fell to the ground. My whole body was flat, my face to the ground. It was dark," she said.
Damour did not only save the woman's life-- he saved her baby as well. She is due in April.
Lockley is suing Wal-Mart, so in response Wal-Mart is sending... diapers. Are we to gather from this that if Wal-Mart were to actually, you know, offer a settlement, they would be admitting that they should have done more to protect their customer Lockley, and their employee Damour?
No, Wal-Mart. You're never responsible for anything.
(Cross-posted, in slightly different format, at MyDD.)