It was last autumn, on her way home from work, that Ann-Charlotte Isaksson came in the middle of a fight at Eslöv’s station and intervened. – First I shout something, I don’t remember what. Then there is a girl in the group who says: “take the knife, take the knife”. Then I back up and immediately afterwards the perpetrator drops the knife, says Ann-Charlotte Isaksson. “Never be afraid” Surveillance cameras show how Ann-Charlotte shoves the knife away with her foot and then how she hides it behind her back. The perpetrator escapes and Ann-Charlotte then takes care of the injured 18-year-old. Were you afraid you would get hurt? – No, I never was. I wasn’t scared until I left the scene and the shock came, then the fear came over what could have happened. But right then and there I wasn’t afraid, says Ann-Charlotte Isaksson. The effort has been praised. Ann-Charlotte understands that people are afraid to intervene because they might get hurt, but there is always something you can do, she says. For example, call for outside help and call the police. But civil courage is not only about intervening in violent situations. – It could be that we help someone across the street, that we help someone who has collapsed. It doesn’t have to be about us going in and acting in a violent situation, but I strongly believe that it’s about us seeing each other and respecting each other, she says. For her efforts, which were first noticed by the local newspaper Skånskan, she was invited to the police who thanked her with flowers and cake. – Ann-Charlotte showed great courage this day by acting, both by making sure that the police came to the scene, and by interrupting the incident and taking care of the plaintiff. Not everyone needs to intervene as much as Ann-Charlotte did, but we can all do something, says Veronika Ek, police chief Eslöv. Without civil courage, society does not function. The perpetrator is now sentenced for attempted murder to three years in youth care, and the 18-year-old survived. According to Ann-Charlotte, our society will not function at all if there is no civil courage. – It’s about us being good fellow human beings to each other and without civil courage, I think the violence will take over and the rest of us walk around scared, says Ann-Charlotte Isaksson.
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