New York Newcomer Gets Lost for Five Days

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Top News- New York Newcomer Gets Lost for Five Days - AOL News

NEW YORK (Jan. 22) - A newcomer to the city became hopelessly lost for five days after going for a walk.

Damon Mootoo, from Guyana, was staying at his brother's house in the borough of Queens, when he decided to go for the stroll last Wednesday - 12 hours after arriving in New York for the first time, the Daily News reported Monday.

The 32-year-old man quickly got disoriented. On Sunday night, after a man came to his aid, he was recovering at Jamaica Hospital from dehydration and frostbite.

Mootoo, who is hard of hearing but can communicate in English, said he did not ask for directions because he was afraid he would be deported and had heard many scary stories about New York. He recently had received his permanent resident card.

Michael Bharath said he was walking home from church when he spotted Mootoo shivering on the street. He and his wife made Mootoo a sandwich, then drove him to his stepmother's home.

"When I see people in need, I try to help them," Bharath told the News. "He was in need, and I'm pretty sure that within a couple more hours he would have been a dead man."

Mootoo had begged for water, but was too ashamed and shy to ask for food or directions, his brother, Roger Miller, told the News. Mootoo slept in an abandoned car or sought shelter under a piece of wood in a stranger's yard.

"I want to go home," he said. "I'm thinking about going back to Guyana."
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WTF? How the hell did this happen? Let this be a lesson for first-time visitors. :)
 
Here's another version of the story:

New arrival in New York spent days lost on street - World - smh.com.au

New arrival in New York spent days lost on street
Tom Leonard in New York
January 25, 2007

A NEWCOMER to New York ended up in hospital suffering from frostbite and dehydration after he left his brother's house for a stroll and spent the next five days hopelessly lost.

Damon Mootoo, 32, from Guyana, quickly became disoriented while walking in Queens last Wednesday without money or identification.

Mr Mootoo, who had arrived in the US only 12 hours earlier, said he was too shy and frightened to ask anyone for help because he had heard that the city was a dangerous place and, anyway, people seemed too busy.

Although he has permanent US residency rights, he feared that if he approached police they might detain him because he was not carrying identification. He begged people for water but he was too ashamed to ask for food.

"I was walking from home to home to see if I'd recognise the house," Mr Mootoo said. As darkness fell and it began to snow, he started praying.

He spent the first night lying on a piece of plywood in a yard, with a board on top of him to keep off the snow. By the following night, his feet were cold and swollen. He slept next to a garage, using an unwanted Christmas tree as a blanket. On the next two nights, he slept in an abandoned car.

He said he finally asked several people for help but nobody did anything. Meanwhile, his relatives put up posters of him on power poles and his picture was broadcast on the local TV news.

On the fifth day, he was spotted trying to turn on a garden hose by Michael Bharath.

Mr Bharath and his wife made Mr Mootoo a sandwich and coffee, and, finding his stepmother's address in his pocket, drove him the five-minute journey to her house.

Mr Mootoo said: "I want to go home. I'm thinking about going back to Guyana."
 
Get a map of this city and write down the names of the street where the house is located BEFORE you start walkin' -- when it is time to go back home, check the map for the names of the street and follow it. That map might save your life since the map is your compass. :D
 
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