My lovely return trip to Val d’Isere took a turn for the disastrous on the fourth day when my left foot went in one direction and my body the other—ouch! After many high-pitched screams that scared off a few skiers, I’m sure, a snowboard instructor and his students stopped to help me out. Dman was already at the bottom of the hill and racing his way back up.
I’d heard my leg snap (not a sound anyone wants to hear) so I knew for sure it was broken. I’ve never broken anything in my life and it’s not a pain I would wish on anyone. Especially when your foot’s stuck in a ski boot and you’re lying on snow while waiting for the first aid service to come, who can’t do anything except call for the doctor and the helicopter. I think I was up there for about an hour or so, waiting to get choppered out of there. Did some meditative breathing before the doctor finally gave me a little morphine, enough to get me and my twisted leg on the gurney without me passing out from pain. Though passing out would have been preferable!
The helicopter ride to the hospital was the longest ten minutes of my life and the ER was kind of a blur, in between them taking my shirt off and putting me under so they could get off my boot. I woke up in a daze, boots off, pants off, gown on, underwear intact and I saw my poor leg with a huge bump sticking out. When I moved my leg, I could feel the bones separating—creepy, but kind of cool.
Surgery two hours later and I woke up to pain and a tube draining blood out of my bandaged leg. So began Day 1 in the hospital…
1 Comment
Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 6:47 am
holy shit! that’s hectic!