When I was a kid I liked to watch a TV show called Nine Nine Nine. It was a show about people that were in grave danger but were rescued. In the UK, the phone number used to summon the emergency services is 999. I believe that is the reason the show was called 999.
The presenter of the TV show was called Michael Buerk I think. He would tell the story of the accident and the people involved would be interviewed. We would be shown a reconstruction of the accident and bit by bit would hear the story from the person involved.
The TV show had two effects on me. Firstly, it made me feel lucky because I'm not in the same situation. Secondly, it would make me feel empathy towards the person. I would be absorbed in the story and would root for the person to survive even though I knew they would.
