Drama at the station and the kindness of strangers
We are all familiar with that feeling of not wanting to get up to go to work on a Monday morning, but today I should really have trusted my instincts!
It was wet and when I boarded the 7:41 at Kent House I slipped. My left leg ended up in the gap, and I banged it against the metal ledge below the door.
It hurt like hell and when I looked, there was blood already seeping through my sock.
I stepped off the train and pulled my trouser leg up and my sock down. The V-shaped cut was huge and the skin was all folded.
There was lot of blood and my shoe was instantly soaked.
For a brief moment I believed "this is it, I cut an artery and I'm going to bleed to death". Then I immediately thought of what I could use to stem the bleeding.
I got to the ticket office and, feeling slightly guilty at jumping the queue, I asked if they could call an ambulance.
Then something quite extraordinary happened. Fellow commuters rushed to help.
One got the station's first aid box and bandaged my leg and managed to stop the bleeding; another one made made me lie on the bench, put his bag under my foot to raise my leg up and covered me with a blanket.
A lady rang for the ambulance and then, worried that it might take too long to arrive, called her husband at home to come and take me to the local hospital.
I was - and still am - deeply touched by all these acts of kindness from complete strangers and I'm tearful thinking about it.
An ambulance arrived and the paramedics decided that the local hospital with only a minor injuries unit wasn't equipped to treat my leg. They loaded me on a stretcher and took me to A&E at the Princess Royal Hospital.
There after a bit of a wait, a nurse cleaned my foot and then a doctor came to examine the wound. She injected me in a few places with the maximum dose of local anaesthetic allowed and it took her 90 minutes to stitch my leg.
In the meantime, I heard Adrian's sweet voice in the distance - Lynne had driven him down.
The doctor said that he could come in to see me but due to some miscommunication he wasn't asked in.
it would have been lovely to have him there holding my hand but it's probably best that he didn't sit through all that stitching.
The doctor was a trainee and often asked for other people to come and have a look at her stitching. Apparently she did a great job (and it looked good to my untrained eye too). My leg looks like Julia Child's boneless duck (without the pastry)! LOL!
Numerous nurses commented on my wound, and one just said "Oh, It's a big one". I was just about to reply "I've been told that before!" but thought better of it.
Now I'm at home with my leg up and will go back to the hospital on Wed morning to the dressing clinic.
Lynne wants to drive there even if that means having to postpone a meeting; Miranda has also been round with some lovely flowers.
I am really lucky to have such wonderful people!
It was wet and when I boarded the 7:41 at Kent House I slipped. My left leg ended up in the gap, and I banged it against the metal ledge below the door.
It hurt like hell and when I looked, there was blood already seeping through my sock.
I stepped off the train and pulled my trouser leg up and my sock down. The V-shaped cut was huge and the skin was all folded.
There was lot of blood and my shoe was instantly soaked.
For a brief moment I believed "this is it, I cut an artery and I'm going to bleed to death". Then I immediately thought of what I could use to stem the bleeding.
I got to the ticket office and, feeling slightly guilty at jumping the queue, I asked if they could call an ambulance.
Then something quite extraordinary happened. Fellow commuters rushed to help.
One got the station's first aid box and bandaged my leg and managed to stop the bleeding; another one made made me lie on the bench, put his bag under my foot to raise my leg up and covered me with a blanket.
A lady rang for the ambulance and then, worried that it might take too long to arrive, called her husband at home to come and take me to the local hospital.
I was - and still am - deeply touched by all these acts of kindness from complete strangers and I'm tearful thinking about it.
An ambulance arrived and the paramedics decided that the local hospital with only a minor injuries unit wasn't equipped to treat my leg. They loaded me on a stretcher and took me to A&E at the Princess Royal Hospital.
There after a bit of a wait, a nurse cleaned my foot and then a doctor came to examine the wound. She injected me in a few places with the maximum dose of local anaesthetic allowed and it took her 90 minutes to stitch my leg.
In the meantime, I heard Adrian's sweet voice in the distance - Lynne had driven him down.
The doctor said that he could come in to see me but due to some miscommunication he wasn't asked in.
it would have been lovely to have him there holding my hand but it's probably best that he didn't sit through all that stitching.
The doctor was a trainee and often asked for other people to come and have a look at her stitching. Apparently she did a great job (and it looked good to my untrained eye too). My leg looks like Julia Child's boneless duck (without the pastry)! LOL!
Numerous nurses commented on my wound, and one just said "Oh, It's a big one". I was just about to reply "I've been told that before!" but thought better of it.
Now I'm at home with my leg up and will go back to the hospital on Wed morning to the dressing clinic.
Lynne wants to drive there even if that means having to postpone a meeting; Miranda has also been round with some lovely flowers.
I am really lucky to have such wonderful people!