Hard Time in the Bush

After I could finally think beyond the immediate urgency of my horrible accident, it was to wonder how I could have possibly coped without Alan and Nigel. They stopped the blood flow, cleaned and patched me, set up the tent, put me in it, and brought food when I had recovered sufficiently to drink and eat.

Earlier that day we had walked past profusely flowering bushes, where the big fire had gone through a couple of years ago. By the time we left Lunchtime Creek showers had developed but the bush held back the wind until we came to the notoriously exposed area above Perdition Ponds. In the buffeting here I had trouble making forward progress and whilst trying to get my feet onto an even surface a particularly strong gust hit. I felt myself losing balance and was literally blown into a dive onto rocks. I realised what was happening but was unable to prevent it. The instance before impact I probably yelled in horror because my tooth got chipped without damage to the mouth.

Blood was streaming and I felt for my nose and knew this was serious. After yelling for help I realised that Alan and Nigel were out of hearing, so managed to get up and stumble on towards Perdition Ponds. Eventually Alan and Nigel saw me and came to the rescue. They thought it may be best to call for an evacuation by helicopter, but I reckoned I didn't need it. They had me in the tent by about 4 pm and I spent a long night at the ponds. Fortunately I was able to walk out the next day without too much discomfort.

A visit to a hospital accident clinic revealed deep gashes to the forehead and a cut to the bone on the nose, where the bridge of my glasses had slammed in. A CT scan revealed a fractured nose but no other bone damage.

One of the outcomes of the drama has been the realisation that, had I been walking solo, coping with the immediate aftermath would have been very difficult and it left me extremely grateful to Alan and Nigel and strengthened my feeling of friendship for them. Once back on home soil the marvellous comfort and caring from Sue, Janine and Evan was truly humbling and eternally appreciated.



Comments

Anonymous said…
Ah. Oh. My baby brother in distress. Well written account and I'd like to use some of it in my novel on Tassie, re foxes. I could have some of the 'bushy' characters on a venture in that rugged area. Would add a lot to the story.
My heart wounded at sight of those photos, but in the last one, my little brother returns. Still looking for a publisher for my novel, which is a ripper.
10:08 am
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