fwd: A Very Bad Day (warning - h*lmets)

This is forwarded from the teflchinalife yahoogroups mailing list.

A Very Bad Day.

This 3 day holiday I went cycling with a student who has graduated &
now working, her work mate & their friend. I only knew my student, the
other two could not speak English. The girl had not cycled a long
distance before.

We climbed a big mountain, regrouped & set off down the mountain. I
stopped half way down & waited for the others. The girl was missing.

My student went back up the mountain on the back of a motorbike &
found her.

She had lost control & crashed into the storm drain, lots of blood & a
fairly big hole in her head.

My student stopped a car & both of them set off for a hospital.

The boy & I got our bikes onto a bus & also set off. Arriving at the
town we discovered that she had been taken by ambulance to the next
larger town, also her bike was still on the mountain.

The boy organised a Ute / utility truck to take our bikes & us back up
the mountain to search for her bike which was still in the storm drain
with her helmet (we were all wearing helmets), lots of blood. In the
bottom of the drain I discovered a 6 cm diameter piece of her skull!
Also inside her helmet was a further piece of skull, yet the helmet
was not damaged.

Then it was a race to the hospital, as they needed this piece of bone.

Arriving at the hospital, she was lying on a bed, a pool of blood on
the floor, her brain visible, her head shaved. But many people around
her with their normal street clothes on, not a sterile condition.

Lots of phone calls, but no action. Then I figured out, the hospital
was waiting for 3000 RMB to be paid before further treatment. My offer
of assistance was rejected.

Finally she was wheeled up to an operating room. A doctor came out in
clean clothing, but then everybody followed the girl and the doctor
into the operating theatre. Frightening.

The bone was screwed back onto her skull & her leg straightened (I
still have not found out if it's broken or twisted). Her nose was
completely smashed.

This was on Thurs. Today she is awake, eating & recovering. Amazingly
she seems to have her normal brain faculties, no memory loss.

I was kept out of what was happening, in fact I felt a hindrance being
there.

Why the long story?

It brought home to me:-

1) Never cycle with students. As a teacher, you are held responsible
for any mishap.

2) I'm often in remote parts of China on my bike. If I had an accident
& was unconscious, if money can not be produced, you can die.

I will ALWAYS carry a copy of my evacuation insurance with a note in
Chinese of people to contact in an emergency - my university, plus a
copy of my passport & Z visa.

I also question my Chinese made helmet.

I asked why the motorcyclist did not stop when he passed the girl &
was told if you get involved you take on the responsibility & could be
left with the hospital bill. I do not know if this is true, I hope
not.

I'm very concerned about this young girl & hope she is able to have
nose reconstruction, but we should all take steps to have an emergency
procedure to follow.

Has anybody ever phoned the emergency 110, do they speak English?

Alan Simpson

Wow - that's an amazing story. Sorry to hear about it.

-Bob

---




On Jun 1, 2:50*pm, "
wrote:
This is forwarded from the teflchinalife yahoogroups mailing list.

A Very Bad Day.

This 3 day holiday I went cycling with a student who has graduated &
now working, her work mate & their friend. I only knew my student, the
other two could not speak English. The girl had not cycled a long
distance before.

We climbed a big mountain, regrouped & set off down the mountain. I
stopped half way down & waited for the others. The girl was missing.

My student went back up the mountain on the back of a motorbike &
found her.

She had lost control & crashed into the storm drain, lots of blood & a
fairly big hole in her head.

My student stopped a car & both of them set off for a hospital.

The boy & I got our bikes onto a bus & also set off. Arriving at the
town we discovered that she had been taken by ambulance to the next
larger town, also her bike was still on the mountain.

The boy organised a Ute / utility truck to take our bikes & us back up
the mountain to search for her bike which was still in the storm drain
with her helmet (we were all wearing helmets), lots of blood. In the
bottom of the drain I discovered a 6 cm diameter piece of her skull!
Also inside her helmet was a further piece of skull, yet the helmet
was not damaged.

Then it was a race to the hospital, as they needed this piece of bone.

Arriving at the hospital, she was lying on a bed, a pool of blood on
the floor, her brain visible, her head shaved. But many people around
her with their normal street clothes on, not a sterile condition.

Lots of phone calls, but no action. Then I figured out, the hospital
was waiting for 3000 RMB to be paid before further treatment. My offer
of assistance was rejected.

Finally she was wheeled up to an operating room. A doctor came out in
clean clothing, but then everybody followed the girl and the doctor
into the operating theatre. Frightening.

The bone was screwed back onto her skull & her leg straightened (I
still have not found out if it's broken or twisted). Her nose was
completely smashed.

This was on Thurs. Today she is awake, eating & recovering. Amazingly
she seems to have her normal brain faculties, no memory loss.

I was kept out of what was happening, in fact I felt a hindrance being
there.

Why the long story?

It brought home to me:-

1) Never cycle with students. As a teacher, you are held responsible
for any mishap.

2) I'm often in remote parts of China on my bike. If I had an accident
& was unconscious, if money can not be produced, you can die.

I will ALWAYS carry a copy of my evacuation insurance with a note in
Chinese of people to contact in an emergency - my university, plus a
copy of my passport & Z visa.

I also question my Chinese made helmet.

I asked why the motorcyclist did not stop when he passed the girl &
was told if you get involved you take on the responsibility & could be
left with the hospital bill. I do not know if this is true, I hope
not.

I'm very concerned about this young girl & hope she is able to have
nose reconstruction, but we should all take steps to have an emergency
procedure to follow.

Has anybody ever phoned the emergency 110, do they speak English?

Alan Simpson

On Jun 1, 4:50*pm, "
wrote:
deleted
She had lost control & crashed into the storm drain, lots of blood & a
fairly big hole in her head.
deleted
Actually, breaking open the skull probably saved her life and
eliminated most injuries to the brain. Bleeding inside an intact
skull (subdural hematoma) can easily and quickly kill you (the skiing
actress in Quebec a few months ago) that requires drilling through the
skull to relieve the pressure from the blood.