Most Unfortunate

February 5th, 2008 at 23:26 · Filed Under Autos, Blogging, Days in My Life, Friends, Injuries, Medical, Travel · 2 Comments 

Richard, my ex-classmate and best friend, were back from Singapore for the CNY on Sunday. He called me on Sunday night and Monday as well but I wasn’t free to go out with him for a tea. So, tonight while taking dinos downtown for a spin, an idea sparked and I called Richard to find out his whereabout and thought we might go for a drink.

He was shopping at MP and Carrefour. We made an rendezvous at 2145. We went many places in the car to look at CNY decoration in the old town. Then we were at Melaka Raya and I called Richard to change our rendezvous place to Hotel Equatorial. We waited there and many cars and motorcycles had passed by but Richard was nowhere to be seen. The kids were getting boring and started to make lots of noises. I decided to leave but no long after we left the rendezvous place, my phone rang. It was Richard. He told me he met an accident. First I thought he was joking as he used to be. But I heard his jumpy voice and I knew it was not funny. He was behind MP and we rushed to the vicinity.

When we arrived, he was sitting by the road side. He was on motorcycle and a car recklessly knocked him down. I went to understand the situation and to take a look at his condition. Using my knowledge in sports science and sports injuries, I examined his wounds and his right leg. He told me his leg was broken but some youngster who appeared to be the friends of the driver and were St. John members told me his leg was fine and not broken. What a stupid and ignorant youngsters!

Richard had some abrasion on his arms and legs. Not much of concerns. I examined closely and carefully his right leg and I found some swelling began to develop around and above his ankle. I touched and pressed gently and asked him if he felt anything. He told me it was numbed. That further reaffirmed my findings and I told him he had broken leg. I concluded his top part of fibula and the lower part of tibia were broken. I quickly called an ambulance and then came two policemen on motorcycles. One of them went to direct traffic and the other stopped beside to see what happened. I told him it was an accident and the victim had broken leg. This policeman took his own sweet time and he did nothing but standing there to look. I told him to radio the ambulance to reinforce my report. He still took his own sweet time to unbuckle his crash helmet, put it down in the basket, and stood there. I asked him why wasn’t he take any action and he ignored me. When I questioned him the second time, he told me to be patient. I raised my voice a little bit and told him the victim had broken leg and was suffering and he needed immediate medical assistance. He still took his own sweet time. My anger increased and I took out pen and paper and started looking for his ID number on his uniform but his safety jacket had covered his uniform and the ID number. I wrote down his motorbike registration number and he quickly began to radio back to headquarters. What kind of policeman was that? Worst, at the end of the incident after Richard had been sent to the hospital, the two policemen encouraged the driver and my friend’s family to settle outside so that no troublesome paperwork. I told him with a stern voice that we were going to lodge a police report.

After Richard had taken his motorbike which was parked behind MP, he was en route to rendezvous with us. Suddenly, a car came from behind him, passed him and suddenly turned left to go into a parking without signaling and looking at the left rear looking mirror. BANG! The driver was a young college going boy after his form five so he must be about the age of 18 or 19. A new and inexperienced driver with friends in his car talking and cheering away. When they spotted a parking, he endangered Richard.

The driver and his friends (girls and boys) admitted it was the driver’s fault while talking to me and Richard’s sister and mother. We encouraged him to file a police report. I was the one to lead them to the police station. Sadly, this young boy changed his mind under the influence of his friends (maybe) and his family. He did not admit his fault and stated that the motorcyclist (Richard) overtook his car from left rear. I wonder where is his conscience? I wonder if he can sleep and eat well?

My three boys are fascinated by ambulance and they like to see ambulance when we spot one on the road. This time, they had gotten the chance to seean ambulance taking an accident victim to the hospital. They saw the medical officers taking Richard up to the ambulance in a wheeled stretcher and rushed him to the hospital with siren. My boys had seen what an ambulance should do. But I guessed, today was the most unfortunate day for Richard.

After I sent them home, I went to the General Hospital to see if there was anything I could offer. I waited until he was ready to be warded. His leg was confirmed broken and he was really worried. When we (his sister and I) met the doctor in the ward, I asked to see his X-ray. That confirmed my findings. One fracture on the top part of his right fibula and two fractures on the lower part of his right tibia.

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