His bawling told me even he realized that he ought to have done the same thing.
I would have too. A friend's mother is on the verge of dying and they don't do anything? Something just doesn't compute.
The guy bawling on national TV about that lady's desparate situation didn't do anything to help her, that's for certain. He had some personal connection with or responsibility for her, and his remorse came out in dramatic fashion.
Seemed obvious to me when I saw it. He kept mentioning the calls indicating that somebody was coming, but he never came.