**Diary Entry 12th June**
The police found a confused old man wandering the streets of Manchesterno memory of his name, no idea where he lived. When they finally tracked down his house, what awaited them inside was nothing short of horrifying.
*”Constable, this gentleman was found lost and disoriented earlier. No identification, no recollection of his address or even his own name. Could be ill or hiding something. What should we do?”*
*”Leave it with me,”* replied the young officer briskly, guiding the old man inside.
Seated in the interview room, the old man looked exhausted, bewildered, yet there was something unsettling in his gazefear, perhaps, or sheer desperation.
The officer started with the basics:
*”Where did you come from?”*
*”Cant remember”*
*”Any family? Children?”*
*”No no one.”*
*”Do you know your name?”*
*”No”*
His answers were fragmented, sometimes nonsensical. It was as if he was hiding somethingor too afraid to speak. The officer grew suspicious.
CCTV footage from the streets was reviewed for hours. The old man had been wandering aimlessly, pausing now and then as if hed forgotten where he was going.
After a full day of tracking his steps, they finally traced him back to a small terraced house. Hoping the familiar surroundings might jog his memory, the officer took him there.
No one answered their knock. The house stood dark, eerily silent.
*”Maybe he lives alone?”* one officer suggested.
*”Doubt it. Were going in.”*
The door gave way with a firm shove. What they found inside left them stunned.
An elderly woman lay on the sofa, ghostly pale, her breathing shallow. She barely moved, but her lips trembled, mouthing a silent *”Help”*
The officer called an ambulance at once. Everything fell into place.
The old man had dementia. His wife had fallen ill that morning. Hed tried to call for help, but the phone confused him. In a panic, hed gone out to fetch a neighbourthen forgotten why hed even left.
Hours of wandering later, exhausted and lost, hed collapsed.
In the end, he *had* brought help. A day late, but it was his desperate attempt to save her that worked.
The officers didnt walk away untouchedthey pooled their wages to hire the couple a carer.
**Lesson learned:** Even in confusion, love finds a way. Sometimes the bravest thing a man can do is keep trying, even when hes forgotten how.
