This video, taken on the Philadelphia route 66 bus, has prompted an all-out police investigation.
The bus clambers along and a young mom and daughter are the subjects of an obvious smart phone video. The little girl is cheerful and talking to herself. The mom, however, is nodding and slumping over like a 70 year old sleep apnea victim. But Philadelphia PD recognize the situation as what’s called the “Heroin Nod.” As the mother is drooping forward, unable to sit up straight and cognizant, her daughter repeatedly says, “Mama! Mama!” while trying futilely to hold her mom’s head up.
“When you have a person doing the ‘heroin nod’ and a little girl is trying to hold her head up, that’s horrifying.”
David Gambacorta of Philly.com writes:
Criminal charges have not been filed against the woman, who was apparently identified with the help of people who responded to the video on Facebook. Those tasked with getting to the bottom of the mother’s condition – and whether the child was ever put in harm’s way – were frustrated by the fact that no one on the bus bothered to try and help the little girl or contact authorities. DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said that while it was helpful that numerous people called and emailed the agency after the video went viral, others who watched the situation unfold in person did nothing. “Child abuse is a community problem,” Ambrose said. “If you see or know that a child is being abused or neglected, you should report it immediately.”
Let’s hope and pray the Philly authorities get the woman the help she needs: heroin may rob her not only of her health and life, but of her precious gift, her daughter.
