“Why don’t you come over to my place and we can drive over together?” Julie texted.
“Sure thing! I’ll be right over!” I replied, and then jumped on my motor scooter to make the less than 10 minute drive to her house. On the way through her neighborhood, I decided to stop at 7-11 for a bottle of water. Exploring a new market in Thailand was going to be fun, but it was also sure to be hot!
Only a couple of minutes away, I hopped back on, strapped on my helmet, and took off. At the last intersection before the turn onto Julie’s street, the one where I need to go straight through, I was riding in the middle of the road. There was a guy riding a scooter just ahead of me, driving along the left-hand side of the road. Without using his indicator, and most likely without looking, he made a right-hand turn directly in front of me.
Shit! Immediately slamming on the brakes only lessened the speed of the impact. It was all a blur, but after crashing into him, my bike skidded to the ground, taking my left ankle with it. On the ground, screaming and crying, I realized my ankle was pinned underneath my scooter, the weight crushing me. Between my screaming and a steady stream of expletives, I remember shouting, “Get it off! Get it off!”
The man I crashed into, apparently uninjured, came to my rescue and lifted the bike off my ankle. With the immediate danger gone, and the intense pain setting in, I continued screaming and crying. So much was happening at once, but suddenly, a few people were standing around me, seeming to have materialized out of thin air. A Thai woman, who spoke English, crouched down beside me and held my hand. She kept reassuring me, telling me to squeeze her hand as hard as I wanted if I was hurting. Another woman was standing there, and I remember shouting, “Get my phone! Get my phone! It’s in my green bag. Call Julie. She’s my friend.” After asking me the passcode for my phone, the kind woman called Julie to say that I’d been in an accident. A Thai man, who had obviously been on a run, asked me if my head was hurting, and when I responded that it wasn’t, he removed my helmet, presumably to help me breathe better, as I was hyperventilating. Another man, an American who teaches in the high school, stopped by, too. I remember him telling me that it wasn’t that bad and could definitely be worse.
In what seemed like a few minutes, Julie appeared in her car. A whirlwind of things happened all at once. Julie got the other driver’s information, after checking on me. The lovely Thai woman who held my hand drove my scooter over to Julie’s house. I was hoisted up by someone, I can’t remember who, into the back of Julie’s car. Crying and struggling to catch my breath, I looked at my ankle for the first time. Swollen to at least twice it’s normal size, with a mix of blood and dirt in a large open wound, I began praying that it wasn’t broken. It sure felt broken.
On the way to the hospital, Julie fought the Bangkok traffic, while simultaneously trying to distract me by talking about other things. I really appreciate all that she did for me, as well as all of the strangers who stopped to help me.
More on the Thai emergency room experience in tomorrow’s slice…
Yikes! I hope you are ok! I will be back tomorrow to read installment two!
I felt I was right there with you! I hope you are feeling better now and got great care. Being in a foreign country makes everything so different.
Being in a foreign country definitely adds another layer to it.
Oh no! Hope it’s not broken! Silver lining…total strangers took care of you and helped you get through an awful experience. There’s always good people around.
There is definitely good in the world.
A colleague broke her ankle in Thailand over the summer and was so impressed by the level of care she received; I hope the same is true for you.
Thailand does have amazing healthcare!
hope you are ok!!! Waiting to hear! Take care
Thanks Timbra…I’m okay, but pretty beat up and sore.
Oh my goodness! I hope you are alright. You have created a great cliffhanger and now we are all anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s post to find out what happened. It’s wonderful how kind the people around were, and inspiring to know that even when you are in a foreign place, people will help when you really need it.
Thanks…I’m hanging in there. Definitely super sore today though. I am so glad that there were so many kind people who stopped to help!
I want to know what happened at the emergency room and if your ankle is broken, I will be back to read tomorrow! I am so happy that you had so many kind individuals there to help you. Hang in there, sending feel better wishes your way!
I really appreciated the kindness of strangers! Thanks for your well wishes!
Oh no!!! I’m thankful you had such kind people to help you. I have hope that you are doing pretty well now since you were able to post such a descriptive story! I too felt like I was there…& wish I was. I love you sweetie 💜
Thanks Aunt Kathy! Love you!!
Yikes!
What a frightening experience. I can envision the hubbub of humanity giving you a hand and it warms my heart.
Very frightening, but so glad there were kind people there to help me!
Sounds terrifying! You captured the moment really well.
Thanks…it was definitely scary and an experience I hope I never repeat in the future!
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OMG! How did I miss this yesterday? I’ve been in Bangkok and I know exactly how traffic goes, so this did not surprise me. Driving is crazy there! Thank goodness for all the kindness of strangers!
I wrote it really late…was a little busy yesterday…haha. The traffic is so crazy here!!
Wow! now that’s a slice! I don’t wish I had a story like that to share. I’m glad you were able to focus on the amount of help you were able to appreciate. It was the most beautiful part of your story. Today, I heard the story at church about the Good Samaritan. I could see it live in your post! It’s good to know people are helping people. These are the stories we need to hear.
I hope you never have a story like this to share, either! I love the story of the Good Samaritan, and that’s exactly what I experienced.
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This sounds so terrifying! It sounds like you had great people around you to make a horrible situation as smooth as possible. I hope you feel better soon!
It was very scary! Thanks for the well wishes!
How awful! I’m so glad so many kind people were at your side to help you through this ordeal. Sending you wishes for a speedy recovery!
Thank you!
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