The following essay was written in response to the tragic death of a little two-year old Chinese girl named Wang Yue. Run over by a truck after wandering away from her parents' shop, Yue-Yue lay helplessly in the street as no fewer than 18 persons passed by without helping. The widely viewed YouTube video of this tragedy prompted Rusty Allen to write the article below and create a video slideshow in honor of Yue-Yue. These expressions of compassion were created before word was received of Yue-Yue's death. The video slideshow follows the essay.

Apathy – A Deadly Sin of the Soul We Were Never Told About

by Rusty Allen

The pain and anguish I have felt over the last few days has been excruciating; my heart is shattered yet still beating.  For anyone who knows the story of 2 year old toddler Wang Yue, affectionately called Yue Yue which means “Little Joy”, you can surely understand where I am coming from.  If you have seen an unedited version of the video of her painful ordeal as I did on Monday (17 October 2011) I am sure you are hurting as badly as me.  The best way I can describe this is I feel closer to knowing what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is than I ever have before.  I cry, I feel sick, I cry more, and I can’t get the replaying vision out of my head of that poor girl not only experiencing so much pain but seeing others so unwilling to help, SEEING HER STILL MOVING AND REACHING FOR THOSE WALKING NEAR HER, the puddle of her blood slowly growing, and knowing that she must have been so desperately wanting her mom and dad at that moment.

Here I go again, crying as I type this and feeling a pain I have never felt.  I believe all things happen for a reason and can clearly see how this could lead to massive healing in the world, yet I would give anything to go back in time and stop this from ever having happened.  We all have dreamed of time travelling to fix something we messed up in the past or fix some wrong (9/11 comes to mind), but if I had one chance to fix something in the past it would be this because it is just too painful.  Even if this tragedy causes a change in Chinese culture and the world by helping “wake up” people’s souls and morals I would rather we find another way.  Alas, it is not up to me, but I pray that this girl can survive this terrible event.