This was a tough call for me. A man was hit by a car outside my home, I didn’t see anything but heard the commotion outside.

There were people everywhere and the man seemed to be in good hands. The police and ambulance were called and both turned up within 5 minutes. People on the street were stabilising the gentleman while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

My wife and I heard the impact from 4 stories up. When we realised what the noise was the perspective changed. I wanted to go down on the street to help but there was already a small crowd around this man and felt that to many people could in fact be detrimental. Instead I stayed at the window watching the emergency services do their thing.

I also found myself scanning the scene for clues… something I’ve developed during some of my activities a few years back. I could see where the mans shoe had landed, his belongings scattered over a distance, the stopping distance of the car that was presumably involved in the accident, the position of the man lying on the road, the bistanders, registration numbers and things like that. All things that can help in an investigation.

I then asked myself if I should take a shot. My wife didn’t understand why I would and to some extent I could see why. I understood. A few years back before I got involved with photography I would have never thought about taking a shot of the scene. But the strange thing was I felt I had too this time.

The noise we heard was like a car hitting the side of another car and perhaps scuffing the wing mirror, like a clattering noise.

The realisation that the noise was the result of a human being impacting with a machine made me sick, it made us both sick. It also very quickly served as a reminder to both myself and my wife just how fragile life is.

People are all around us but we go on with our own lives oblivious to the lives of those around us. I don’t know. I’m not one for telling stories in words to accompany my images, mainly because I tend to keep my thoughts to myself but this shot is something different. I feel guilty for taking the shot but I also feel that the shot carries a story that when you, as a viewer, gets past the first impression, I hope will realise.