Showing posts with label rock climbing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock climbing. Show all posts
Contd ...
It was night, the doctors looked grim the north Indian summer was just peaking. The hospital fan creaked slowly around trying vainly to deliver some relief. Shaun could feel the sweat pool under him, the bed sheet was already soaking wet, oh and it hurt well basically it had been hurting for the last two days now, every time some one brushed against the huge four poster bed it hurt like a bed of nails. Shaun lay awake and stared at the fan in its vain attempt, he knew it was not good the doctors his doctor mom looked at him like it was over , they told him that they only way to attempt to save his life was a surgery technique that was very rarely tried. Basically they would ct him open down his front and go thru all the layers and viscera between his front and his vertebrae and then try and relieve the pressure on his spinal chord.
they had told him earlier that day that even if they were successful it was likely that he was going to be most likely bed ridden for the rest of his life, he was never going to walk again for sure. He turned his head to see who was there and realised, that his sister had fallen asleep in the chair next to the bed. he felt like killing him self, but that wasn't going to happen was it, he thought ironically. The NDA the army was never going to happen, heck school senior year looked distant let alone every thing else. he had talked to his sister earlier that night and she had cried for two hours until is mother returned from home. this was going to get real sorry.
He kept drifting in and out of drowsy sleep, suddenly his whole body went into a mass of pain waking him up he looked around and saw the cleaning lady was bumping against the bed. he asked her to move away and not do that again. his mother came in with his aunt both looked tired and had dark circles under their eyes. he had CT scans scheduled for today and so they piled him into another ambulance and took him to the new city hospital the ride being a miasma of pain which bordered on unbearable, the day passed by with his friends visiting him and every one discussing what subjects they would take when schools started in 4 weeks, they told him the next day was counseling and they will know then what the cutoff was going to be then.
life was moving for them and it was unsure for him. then aunty came in a told every one that she had got the medical board to recommend that he be shifted to Bombay for better treatment. things decided it was decided that Shaun's Aunt and his dad would travel with him. then they packed him into a ambulance and drove to Jaipur as all flights, 2 each day, out of Jodhpur were booked for the next one week. so any way the three hundred kms journey was done in 12 hours as every time the van hit a bump Shaun would go into a spasm of pain. well they got their for the evening flight and the airlines removed 9 seats to strap the stretcher down. it was 12 when he reached Sion hospital in Bombay to which he was referred to.
it was six when he woke up thirsty and really really hurting, but for some reason he was alone in his room his dad who was supposed to be in the room by him, had been by his side for the entire night while aunt slept in the hotel, was no where to be seen. he waited two hours till his father came in with his aunt who was fuming, the hospital staff had thrown his dad out on the pretext of cleaning the room and left him alone for three hours.
Aunt left again to get dates for an MRI and after she left my dad couldn't find their luggage. when the doctor came for rounds they couldn't find his records and hence a fresh round of CT's and X-Rays were ordered. they wheeled him thru hospital galleries and lifts for the tests. When they came back they had a message waiting for them and it said that the operation was scheduled for the next day, they had scheduled the operation without taking a look at one document. when Shaun's aunt heard this she exploded and wanted to get him discharged out.
fortunately after a lot of arguing they agreed and he was discharged and transfered to Bombay hospital where the Administrator was her friend from Med School. it was Firday night. the fall occurred on Monday. it had been five days with Shaun on his back five different cities and a world of pain. saturday dawned and he looked out of his window to see a tower and blue skies framed in it the tower belonged to Liberty Cinema in Bombay. they wheeled a Portable Xray Machine took fresh X rays and then then wheeled the entire bed to the MRI center and then took an MRI. and this bustling man with three young doctors in tow comes in and asked Shaun, if there was any thing he could do for him? Shanu told him get me to walk and climb again and he would be happy. that Doctor told him that would be a cinch, things would get better. Sunday dawned with his aunt waking him up for a little soup and she had taken to sleeping next to him to prevent any other mishaps.
It was night, the doctors looked grim the north Indian summer was just peaking. The hospital fan creaked slowly around trying vainly to deliver some relief. Shaun could feel the sweat pool under him, the bed sheet was already soaking wet, oh and it hurt well basically it had been hurting for the last two days now, every time some one brushed against the huge four poster bed it hurt like a bed of nails. Shaun lay awake and stared at the fan in its vain attempt, he knew it was not good the doctors his doctor mom looked at him like it was over , they told him that they only way to attempt to save his life was a surgery technique that was very rarely tried. Basically they would ct him open down his front and go thru all the layers and viscera between his front and his vertebrae and then try and relieve the pressure on his spinal chord.
they had told him earlier that day that even if they were successful it was likely that he was going to be most likely bed ridden for the rest of his life, he was never going to walk again for sure. He turned his head to see who was there and realised, that his sister had fallen asleep in the chair next to the bed. he felt like killing him self, but that wasn't going to happen was it, he thought ironically. The NDA the army was never going to happen, heck school senior year looked distant let alone every thing else. he had talked to his sister earlier that night and she had cried for two hours until is mother returned from home. this was going to get real sorry.
He kept drifting in and out of drowsy sleep, suddenly his whole body went into a mass of pain waking him up he looked around and saw the cleaning lady was bumping against the bed. he asked her to move away and not do that again. his mother came in with his aunt both looked tired and had dark circles under their eyes. he had CT scans scheduled for today and so they piled him into another ambulance and took him to the new city hospital the ride being a miasma of pain which bordered on unbearable, the day passed by with his friends visiting him and every one discussing what subjects they would take when schools started in 4 weeks, they told him the next day was counseling and they will know then what the cutoff was going to be then.
life was moving for them and it was unsure for him. then aunty came in a told every one that she had got the medical board to recommend that he be shifted to Bombay for better treatment. things decided it was decided that Shaun's Aunt and his dad would travel with him. then they packed him into a ambulance and drove to Jaipur as all flights, 2 each day, out of Jodhpur were booked for the next one week. so any way the three hundred kms journey was done in 12 hours as every time the van hit a bump Shaun would go into a spasm of pain. well they got their for the evening flight and the airlines removed 9 seats to strap the stretcher down. it was 12 when he reached Sion hospital in Bombay to which he was referred to.
it was six when he woke up thirsty and really really hurting, but for some reason he was alone in his room his dad who was supposed to be in the room by him, had been by his side for the entire night while aunt slept in the hotel, was no where to be seen. he waited two hours till his father came in with his aunt who was fuming, the hospital staff had thrown his dad out on the pretext of cleaning the room and left him alone for three hours.
Aunt left again to get dates for an MRI and after she left my dad couldn't find their luggage. when the doctor came for rounds they couldn't find his records and hence a fresh round of CT's and X-Rays were ordered. they wheeled him thru hospital galleries and lifts for the tests. When they came back they had a message waiting for them and it said that the operation was scheduled for the next day, they had scheduled the operation without taking a look at one document. when Shaun's aunt heard this she exploded and wanted to get him discharged out.
fortunately after a lot of arguing they agreed and he was discharged and transfered to Bombay hospital where the Administrator was her friend from Med School. it was Firday night. the fall occurred on Monday. it had been five days with Shaun on his back five different cities and a world of pain. saturday dawned and he looked out of his window to see a tower and blue skies framed in it the tower belonged to Liberty Cinema in Bombay. they wheeled a Portable Xray Machine took fresh X rays and then then wheeled the entire bed to the MRI center and then took an MRI. and this bustling man with three young doctors in tow comes in and asked Shaun, if there was any thing he could do for him? Shanu told him get me to walk and climb again and he would be happy. that Doctor told him that would be a cinch, things would get better. Sunday dawned with his aunt waking him up for a little soup and she had taken to sleeping next to him to prevent any other mishaps.
Labels: Dawn, rock climbing, spinal injury, story
It was June 5th 1996, the three month holiday was coming to an end. CBSE Tenth board results were coming today. It was a Fun Holiday and they had seen and done a lot of things that they had never dreamed of. Ankit woke up early and looked out of the tent, the sun had risen but wasnt high enough to light the valley they were in. It was going to be a bright cloudless day and it was going to be perfect for what they had planned. they hills were a myriad shade of brown just before the rains and they were out climbing in the Aravali's. the height provided some respite from the hot Rajasthan summers, but it was still tough going and although they had packed a lot of water the day before when they set off from Mount Abu it was still going to be close by the end of the day.
Hearing a noise behind him Ankit turned around and saw Shaun crawl out of the tent and getting ready for his morning run. They both laced up there shoes and went for their morning run. when they came back to see that every one was still curled up in their sleeping bags against the early morning chill. They set about making coffee and tea and people started to roll over in the strong caffeine smell by eight every one was out of the bed and ready for a hard days climb.
After Brakefast every one was ready and checking the gear for faults, once that was done they set their sights on the 120 foot cliff that was going to be their last climb for the holidays. shaun took the lead and started up the wall belaying the rope as he went, Amita was second and Ankit was third. Ankit looked up and realised that Shaun was going real fast up the wall and Amita was still stuck at the bottom, some how she was finding the going slower or she was pacing herself better. Amita reached 10 feet and Ankit Started up the rock face after her, at barely five feet of the ground he heard the rope tug and looked up to see Shaun come of the wall at 35 feet and saw gravit take over, he had a very bad taste in his mouth.
Ankit let go of the wall and he and Shaun hit the ground at the same time Shaun some how landed on his feet and then fell over back wards. When Ankit got to him he was trying to sit up but some how his lower body wasnt responding to what he was trying to do and he looked to be in pain. Shaun said he had broken his hip and it looked bad, amita came of the wall and every one corwded around, Ankit taking charge got them in line to get Shaun out of there, they used wood to imbobilize the hip and used a sleeping bag as a stretcher and took him to the van they were using.
The drive to Jodhpur was long and it was apparent that Shaun was in a great deal of pain. Every time they hit a bump his face grimaced and the fact that he was on the floor of the van between the seats wasnt helping either.
that night at the hospital even after three x rays the break in his hips was not visible, the doctors thought it was a muscle rupture or tear and hence it was not showing then Amita suggested why dont you X ray the whole body and then they found the fracture, the T 12 vertebrae had broken and was the break was pressing into his Spinal chord. the bad just got worse.
Hearing a noise behind him Ankit turned around and saw Shaun crawl out of the tent and getting ready for his morning run. They both laced up there shoes and went for their morning run. when they came back to see that every one was still curled up in their sleeping bags against the early morning chill. They set about making coffee and tea and people started to roll over in the strong caffeine smell by eight every one was out of the bed and ready for a hard days climb.
After Brakefast every one was ready and checking the gear for faults, once that was done they set their sights on the 120 foot cliff that was going to be their last climb for the holidays. shaun took the lead and started up the wall belaying the rope as he went, Amita was second and Ankit was third. Ankit looked up and realised that Shaun was going real fast up the wall and Amita was still stuck at the bottom, some how she was finding the going slower or she was pacing herself better. Amita reached 10 feet and Ankit Started up the rock face after her, at barely five feet of the ground he heard the rope tug and looked up to see Shaun come of the wall at 35 feet and saw gravit take over, he had a very bad taste in his mouth.
Ankit let go of the wall and he and Shaun hit the ground at the same time Shaun some how landed on his feet and then fell over back wards. When Ankit got to him he was trying to sit up but some how his lower body wasnt responding to what he was trying to do and he looked to be in pain. Shaun said he had broken his hip and it looked bad, amita came of the wall and every one corwded around, Ankit taking charge got them in line to get Shaun out of there, they used wood to imbobilize the hip and used a sleeping bag as a stretcher and took him to the van they were using.
The drive to Jodhpur was long and it was apparent that Shaun was in a great deal of pain. Every time they hit a bump his face grimaced and the fact that he was on the floor of the van between the seats wasnt helping either.
that night at the hospital even after three x rays the break in his hips was not visible, the doctors thought it was a muscle rupture or tear and hence it was not showing then Amita suggested why dont you X ray the whole body and then they found the fracture, the T 12 vertebrae had broken and was the break was pressing into his Spinal chord. the bad just got worse.
Labels: Dawn, rock climbing, spinal injury, story