It was a hectic week on the job this past week, between taking care of my sick Princess and sorting out the day to day headaches on the job site. Thank Goodness I have some great friends like Anna and Glenn who pitched in to help out with taking care of my Princess and our dog Bree. Anna and Glenn (who are both senior citizens) walked Bree in the mornings which allowed me to get into work on time and still get my Princess settled in each morning for the day ahead, Great Friends.
By Friday afternoon I was plum tuckered out and I picked up a few movies to watch with my Princess on Friday night, got to bed at midnight as I had a busy day planned for Saturday; an emergency job we got called in on at the last moment.
1:00 AM Saturday morning I was awakened from a dead sleep by a call from Glenn who was in a panic, Anna had fallen off the dock on their way home to their liveaboard boat and cut her head open. Could I please come out to their boat to take Anna to the Emergency Room?
I jumped into my clothes and met Glenn at the dock, we rowed out to their 52' sailboat, 'Great Bear' and clammered aboard. Anna was lying on the bed in the saloon and her face was caked with dried blood, a nasty 3 inch gash ran across her forehead but she had no blood coming from her eyes or ears which was a good sign. I checked her for a concussion but both pupils were the same size so no concussion, then we had to lower Anna into the dingy for the trip back to the dock 100 yds. away. The wind was blowing up a chop but it was behind us so the trip back was quick enough. Hauled the dinghy up on the beach and carried Anna to the Jeep for an express run into the hospital 30 minutes away on the winding Bermuda roads. Anna was wanting to go to sleep which is a big no no with a head injury so I had her recount the accident to give her something to do while I drove and Glenn rode shotgun.
"Anna and Glenn had been coming home late from a friend's 70th birthday party and the usual celebratory toasts plus the late hour had taken a toll on both of them. The stone steps from the main dock down to the dinghy were slick with sea water and algae so Glenn went first to untie the dinghy while Anna waited half way up the steps about 4 feet above the water, that's when she slipped and fell into the harbour. Into the pitch black water she went head first and came up under a large inflateable dingy, in the blackness she was completely disoriented and was held underwater by the dinghy. Glenn turned the small flashlight on the spot where Anna went in but there were nothing but bubbles coming from the underside of the dinghy, so Glenn dove in after her. Anna was starting to drown as she worked her way along the underside of the rubber boat and that's when her forehead hit the prop of the outboard motor and gashed her head open; just as Glenn grabbed her foot to haul her out from under the rubberboat that was holding her underwater. Glenn dragged Anna's limp body into their dinghy and rowed out to Great Bear where he somehow managed to get Anna over the rail of the sailboat which rides on a mooring 6 feet above the water. They were both freezing from the dunking in their wet clothes with the strong blow that was coming across Mangrove Bay, Anna had vomited up most of the seawater she had inhaled and the vigorous rowing had exhausted Glenn. Glenn dragged Anna into the cabin and got them both changed into dry clothes, blood was everywhere; then he called me.
We made it to the Emergency Room in record time and the doctors did their thing for the next 2 hours, I finally headed for home at 3
am. I stopped by the beach to check on their dinghy which I had hauled up above the waterline and it was a good thing I did because the tide had come in and the dinghy was just starting to drift away. Wrestled the dinghy back to shore and the rowed it over to a rail I could tie it off to at the dock.
Got home, got a couple of hours sleep and then into work again, Man I was Beat!
Having Senior Citizens is just too much excitement for this lad. I almost lost two good friends the other night but fortunately things worked out all right. Anna is now back on the boat with a row of stitches running across her forehead (no Halloween mask will be required this year) but otherwise she is feeling pretty good except for a sore neck and the usual swelling and bruising. It put a fright into both Anna and Glenn, so they'll be a little more cautious in the future, I hope. Anna and Glenn both have an adventurous and youthful outlook on life and I hope they never lose that lifestyle. They live a free life and are both wonderful people.
By Friday afternoon I was plum tuckered out and I picked up a few movies to watch with my Princess on Friday night, got to bed at midnight as I had a busy day planned for Saturday; an emergency job we got called in on at the last moment.
1:00 AM Saturday morning I was awakened from a dead sleep by a call from Glenn who was in a panic, Anna had fallen off the dock on their way home to their liveaboard boat and cut her head open. Could I please come out to their boat to take Anna to the Emergency Room?
I jumped into my clothes and met Glenn at the dock, we rowed out to their 52' sailboat, 'Great Bear' and clammered aboard. Anna was lying on the bed in the saloon and her face was caked with dried blood, a nasty 3 inch gash ran across her forehead but she had no blood coming from her eyes or ears which was a good sign. I checked her for a concussion but both pupils were the same size so no concussion, then we had to lower Anna into the dingy for the trip back to the dock 100 yds. away. The wind was blowing up a chop but it was behind us so the trip back was quick enough. Hauled the dinghy up on the beach and carried Anna to the Jeep for an express run into the hospital 30 minutes away on the winding Bermuda roads. Anna was wanting to go to sleep which is a big no no with a head injury so I had her recount the accident to give her something to do while I drove and Glenn rode shotgun.
"Anna and Glenn had been coming home late from a friend's 70th birthday party and the usual celebratory toasts plus the late hour had taken a toll on both of them. The stone steps from the main dock down to the dinghy were slick with sea water and algae so Glenn went first to untie the dinghy while Anna waited half way up the steps about 4 feet above the water, that's when she slipped and fell into the harbour. Into the pitch black water she went head first and came up under a large inflateable dingy, in the blackness she was completely disoriented and was held underwater by the dinghy. Glenn turned the small flashlight on the spot where Anna went in but there were nothing but bubbles coming from the underside of the dinghy, so Glenn dove in after her. Anna was starting to drown as she worked her way along the underside of the rubber boat and that's when her forehead hit the prop of the outboard motor and gashed her head open; just as Glenn grabbed her foot to haul her out from under the rubberboat that was holding her underwater. Glenn dragged Anna's limp body into their dinghy and rowed out to Great Bear where he somehow managed to get Anna over the rail of the sailboat which rides on a mooring 6 feet above the water. They were both freezing from the dunking in their wet clothes with the strong blow that was coming across Mangrove Bay, Anna had vomited up most of the seawater she had inhaled and the vigorous rowing had exhausted Glenn. Glenn dragged Anna into the cabin and got them both changed into dry clothes, blood was everywhere; then he called me.
We made it to the Emergency Room in record time and the doctors did their thing for the next 2 hours, I finally headed for home at 3
am. I stopped by the beach to check on their dinghy which I had hauled up above the waterline and it was a good thing I did because the tide had come in and the dinghy was just starting to drift away. Wrestled the dinghy back to shore and the rowed it over to a rail I could tie it off to at the dock.
Got home, got a couple of hours sleep and then into work again, Man I was Beat!
Having Senior Citizens is just too much excitement for this lad. I almost lost two good friends the other night but fortunately things worked out all right. Anna is now back on the boat with a row of stitches running across her forehead (no Halloween mask will be required this year) but otherwise she is feeling pretty good except for a sore neck and the usual swelling and bruising. It put a fright into both Anna and Glenn, so they'll be a little more cautious in the future, I hope. Anna and Glenn both have an adventurous and youthful outlook on life and I hope they never lose that lifestyle. They live a free life and are both wonderful people.
