My last post made me think of this!
Some cliches first.
In my 70th year, which means finishing eight decade on this rock. Two centuries and two millennia. And I wonder how I am still alive!
Aged 2 I had some sort of argument with my older sister so she smashed a bottle over my head! I have a dent there still.
Aged 7 I ran out from behind an Ice-cream van and was run down – by a doctor! The only physical damage that happened was a cut to my cheek. However, my mother said I went a bit looy over the next few months. I was referred to a child psychologist and they agreed to allow me to spend a week in a children’s convalescent hospital – I think it was more to give Mum a break as she had four others at home, and dealing with a mad one cant have been easy.
During that week I came into contact with someone who had TB – so spent the next five months in an isolation ward!
Plenty of falls and scrapes from then on.
Age fifteen I was cycling on a ‘home-made’ bike (we’d found a frame etc and put it together. Anyway, cycling in fron of a car on a busy road and the mud guard support at the front came loose, shot round and jammed the wheel. The bike came to a full stop and I shot forward over the handlebars! Both hands ripped to shreds on landing.
Fast forward five years and I was cycling on the ring road in Coventry (I was at the Polytechnic), and a car hit me and I rolled out in front of a double decker bus!
(There’s a pattern in the two-wheel incidents.)
Age 21 I was working in Research at Sellafield and bought a motorcycle – Honda CD 175. The first week I skidded on a wet cattle grid and fell off – headlight damaged but I was ok. I seemed to always fall off that bike! Then just before Christmas I was riding a mates bike, which happened to have much sharper brakes than mine… Flew over the handlebars. Both wrists sprained and broken collar bone.
February 1982 I was rushed into hospital with appendicitis. I still remember the surgeon coming to see me afterwards and saying ‘You’re lucky – one more hour and pop! Burst appendix!’
Then 1982 turned into my biggest ever challenge … I bought another motorbike as I was fed up getting the bus to school (I was teaching Physics in High school by this time). At 0815 on the 23rd June a black Hackney Taxi cut across me and nearly took off the bottom of my right leg!
Compound fracture of Tibia and Fibula (funny I’d been teaching about the human skeleton that week!) Nine months and four major surgeries before I was back at work. More than 40 years on I still cant move my right ankle properly.
Next was marriage and children and things seemed to settle down.
No more motorbikes! Living in Suffolk and cycling some of the country lanes was a bit scary at times, but I was fine.
Aged 43 I came down with a fever, which I just put down to winter cold/flu. No! I had pneumonia and my left lung stopped working!
Antibiotics are wonderful.
Another six weeks of life lost just shuffling round like a 90-year-old.
Not much after that for quite some time – until Covid!
Working in Baku, I went out for dinner one night with some colleagues. One of them had a bit of a cough… Over the next week three of us were diagnosed with Covid. My temperature was shooting up to 41oC at night. Fortunately I had a paramedic come to my place every day to help me through it.
After that I decided to retire and go back to Liverpool.
Retirement was like death! My day slipped by about 5 hours. Staying up watching awfull TV until 3 am. So after a few months I started tutoring Maths and Physics. Then I did some cover work at a local FE college, sometimes teaching people who were older than me! After a couple of years being ‘retired’ I came to Oman to teach Maths. Nice school, lots of sunshine and no tax.
Two years ago on holiday in Turkey I became increasingly breathless. I almost collapsed and ended up in ICU with 7 litres of excess fluid built up in my legs and lungs. A scary time in a country where you don’t speak the language and no friends or relatives (Like being a refugee). The hospital cleared it and I came back to Oman. I went to a cardiologist who diagnosis said my heart has lost some of its efficiency due to a viral infection – probably Covid.
I get by on daily medication.
I lost count there of how many times I could have died!
But I am still here!
Fairy Hanny 