A & E - In plaster

Soo 5 hours after falling I actually got to A & E (8th June 2008).

I was very lucky in that even though it was sunday night there was still a fair few drunks, people who had had coughs for the past two weeks and a general busyness in A & E made up mostly of people who could probably have waited 12 hrs to see a doctor.

I think the fact I had injured myself 5 hrs ago and my ankle was quite impressively huge and I couldn't weight bare in the slightest also helped.

Still, I was entertained as where many people by a very very drunk girl who must have been about my age but appeared to have been abandonned by all her friends. She was stagering around and in one hand she had a hand bag and in the other a shoe. There was no sign anywhere of her other shoe, but she didn't seem to notice. She kept wandering up to the counter and trying to order a drink. When she found the phone which phones direct to the taxi rank she seemed very confused that she couldn't get though to her friend. Eventually she managed to work it out and hold the reciever long enough to order herself her cab. Then she staggered down the "corridor" between the chair and the wall (probably about 5metres wide) bouncing off both and falling over occasionally, the doors opened and she disapeared into the night.

So I was called through, and seen by a very nice nurse and doctor. Trying to explain how I did it was hard. It's not like the hospital near me specialises in outdoor sport injuries. Anyways I got sent to xray and hopped all the way there, I was on a being independent mission, despite the offer of a wheelchair.

There was a girl who had fallen off a slide in a childrens play area in a pub and possibly broken her arm. Her mum was not impressed to be giving up her drinking time sitting in A & E with a broken daughter. I was also shocked and saddened by the number of old grannies that I saw in wheelchairs who looked that they'd fallen down the stairs or taken a beating from someone. And the old men and women who seemed confused about where they where.

I got my xrays back and joked and talked with the docs and nurses and nosed at my xray. I was a bit sarcastic and giggly and they where really nice. There were drunk people on the ward and some crazy drunk women beconing me to go over and talk to her. The nurses were saying "nooo don't go" to me.

I was put in a half cast because me leg was huge and still swelling.

I partially dislocated my ankle and it nicely reduced/relocated itself.

I Hairline fractured my foot.

I Have severe soft tissue damage.

Broken the base of my (leg bone) although I also have an old fracture near the new one

The women who plastered it seemed like she would rather be anywhere than plastering my leg, and the conversation was a bit abrupt and went a bit like this.

"How did you do it?"

"I fell when I was climbing in North Wales"

"That was a bit stupid wasn't it!"

"Well I didn't intend to do it, I just slipped, it happens"

"Where you on a course?"

"No why?"

"Because if you where you could sue them for this claim some compensation for this injury!"

"I wouldn't do that and I was just climbing with a friend"

"Was he more qualified than you? You should try get some money out of it!!!"

"I'm more qualified, but he's more experienced, I just fell, like you could fall off a kerb"

"Ahh but if you fell off a kerb there could be something wrong with the kerb and you could sue the council.......blah blah blah blah...

And so it went on. This world is a crazy place. Everybody wants to sue somebody else. This viewpoint really shouldn't be forced on people when they've just been injured. I'm broken and i'll deal with it, I was my fault and nobody elses.

The only thing we agreed on was that if I had fallen off a kerb I might have actually got some pain relief other than some weak coedine and I doubt it would have taken 5 hrs to get to A & E.

However; I was drunk....I can't remember or

I tripped and fell off the kerb, really isn't much of a story is it. If your going to hurt yourself you have to go the whole way, gotta do it in style, pull a decent sickie, one that is acceptable in my line of work.

(Leg in plaster to knee)

Apart from that my experience with A & E was excellent. I got the nice doc (who was actually pretty hot) to email me my x-rays and I was in and out in an hour and a half. Pretty damn good if you ask me...and it's free.

Fractue clinic - Ankle photo