Playing host
Before Covid, we used to volunteer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as English tutors for Intermediate and Higher levels. While we were doing one of the stints a close friend came to visit us. As is proper for hosts when we were free we took him to see the various places of interest. One of these was the legendary *Wat Phnom situated on a low hill. It is popular with the locals who visit the surrounds to relax with their friends and family.
After walking about the temple and awed by the Hindu influence, especially the Ramayana, we sit under the trees to savour our packed lunch, it being a hot day. We are lulled by the shade and the breeze from the Tonle Sap river. Ideal conditions for a siesta.
Deprived of a Siesta
Our eyes are beginning to droop when we hear a crackle. We dismiss it as some twigs snapping. But even before we can look up to puzzle out the cause, there is a loud snapping and a huge branch begins to drop. Our reflexes are not quite fast enough. I am struck down on my side with the branches brushing against me. Our friend, who is sitting on the other side of Drink is unharmed. But underneath the thicker part of the branch sits Drink. The branch has hit him with a thud, bounced and "popped" again. He is so stunned that he thinks his brain has been damaged. He tells us later that he tried to remember Mathematicsl fornulas to test if his brains were functioning.
I get up and brush off the twigs and leaves that had scratched me. Then I try to lift and shift the offending branch away with the friend's help. It was then that Drink realises he is bleeding. Blood ha begun to seep through the cap he is wearing. Gingerly removing the cap reveals a gash right on top of the head. The target couldn't have been more spot on. First aid lesrnt during my school days kicks in. I have to stem the bleeding. By this time a crowd has gathered. No one knows what to do. I ask for ice. No one speaks English. I ask several times hoping someone understood. Then I spy a Seven Up can, point to it and cry ''ice" again. This time someone thrusts towards me a paper cup of some coloured drink with ice in it. I thankfully grab the ice and try to place it over the wound. By that time a security guard has called for an ambulance and it has arrived.
The male nurse walks Drink into the ambulance. First Drink is asked to sit down. And then it was thought better that he lie down. The general hospital is just a few minutes away. Drink is put on a wheel chair and taken to what I believe was the treatment room. No xrays, no vital sign checks, no doctor consultation A female patient, obviously in pain, lay in a stretcher nearby. Drink is made to lie down. A male nurse ( or was it a doctor?) comes about, takes a look at the wound and somehow communicates to us that stitches were in order. We agree. He asks me to leave the room but Drink and I think I should remain. We are quite squeamish about hygiene. When I vehemently insist I am reluctantly allowed. So I hold on to Drinks hand while he gets a local anesthetic and then the stitches. A wad of cotton, then lint is placed on the wound and the ends of the sutures used to tie the dressing in place! Neat.
We were asked to pay US $12 for the service.
The sutures stayed on for nearly 10 days, the wound being dressed by the Rector's wife and her assistant. The sutures were removed by our dentist in Cambodia. All's well that ends well.
Later, after all the hoopla around Drink, I realise that I'm hurting all over. There is a bleeding scratch on my right year and my earing has disappeared!
*Wat = temple, phnom= Hull, in Khmer, the Cambodian language
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome