I FELT compelled to write a response to Mr Wood’s letter in the Gazette last week.

Mr Wood, your friends were wrong to react to your good deed in the way that they did.

No-one should ever fail to respond to a distressed child.

Going to help that young boy was the natural reaction of a caring human being and you should not be made to feel that you should’nt have done it.

In my opinion this fear of bystanders reading a situation wrongly is causing our society to become desensitised to the suffering of others.

I’m sure that when his mum caught up with her son she saw your actions for what the were, nothing more than a caring reaction to his obvious distress.

I would have done exactly the same thing in your situation and you should not listen to anyone who says that you should have walked past with you head down.

Being the caring person you are, I guarantee that you would have felt a whole lot worse for not doing the right thing.

JULIE STONE Grove Road, Grays