I was going through my file at the weekend and found a disc in my filing cabinet with my X-rays on.
I’m lucky. I’ve never had a really serious accident. I’ve had a few accidents in my life including an undercarriage failure on a two seater aeroplane I was flying during my flight training back in the early 1990′s. On that occasion, the port undercarriage collapsed taking the hydraulic systems with it leaving the aeroplane skidding down the runway on its port wing. We came to rest uneventfully and I’ll never forget how quick and professional the fire crew at Coventry Airport were. We were busy in the cockpit trying to keep the aeroplane from flipping, shutting off the fuel and electrics and generally trying to figure out what was happening so it wasn’t until we came to rest that we noticed the fire crew were already in attendance.
I also had a car accident where my car left the road and hit a tree. Although the air ambulance were deployed I ended up being taken to hospital in an ordinary ambulance, and not really regaining conciousness until I was on the crash table. Apart from bruising from the seat belt and airbag I was ok, although they initially thought the piece of plastic airbag canister embedded in the side of my face was my jaw bone, but once the registrar came to inspect it an hour or so later he recognised it for what it was and eased it out with a pair of pliers.
The accident that really hurt though was when I dislocated my shoulder. In October 2007 a friend and I decided to go sailing. Although 2007 was my first season as a boat owner, we decided to go in Tony’s boat and agreed to go into Newtown Creek on the Isle of Wight. Once on a visitors bouy we deployed the dinghy and went ashore to the local pub for a baguette and a pint. After lunch we made our way back to the boat and left Newtown Creek bound for Lymington. Once in Lymington we berthed fore and aft on a pair of bouys and again deployed the dinghy. Tony popped below to get some beer tokens and I stepped down into the dinghy. I quickly realised that I had got me weight shift wrong and that I was going for a swim and as I went down into the water I tried as hard as I could to hold my entire body weight on one arm. Bad move, as I entered the water I was thinking about my blackberry in my pocket, and how the three hundred quid in my wallet would fare in salt water and as I looked down to assess my situation my glasses went to a long visit to the bottom of Lymington harbour. It was then that I realised I was suffering a bit of pain at the top of my arm. Initially I thought I’d torn the muscle as I tried to hold my falling weight, but it quickly became apparent that it was worse than that. Tony who had heard my calls for help had rigged up a rope with a bowline in either end and stepping down to the back of the boat managed to sling it around my back and under my arms securing it at the front with the main halyard which he then put on one of the boats winches and lifted me out of the water until I could use my legs to get back aboard the boat. I explained that I thought my shoulder was out and Tony made a call for assistance. By the time he had moved the boat to the harbour wall the ambulance had arrived and the paramedics quicky verified my self diagnosis and took me to the ambulance for transfer to Southampton Infirmary. I took 10 milligrammes in two 5mg doses of morphine to try and null the pain but it was getting worse. On arrival at hospital I was given a further 10mg and the process of trying to manipulate my shoulder back in began. After several failed attempts the staff declared they would have to put me under to get it back in and horrified, I asked them to give it one more go. I gritted my teeth and relaxed as much as a man can and as the male nurse gingerly rotated my arm outwards there was a crack and almost instant relief from pain.
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After a taxi ride back to Lymington I had a rough night sleeping, or trying to sleep in my cabin and, with my car back in Southampton we decided to sail back together for ease of logistics. I did manage a little one handed helming, but it was uncomfortable. I couldn’t really move my right arm away from my ribs without a lot of pain, but we made it back and after tidying up I got into my car for the two hour drive home. Thank god for automatic gearboxes and power steering!
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