Injured Abroad

One of the most unique “opportunities” I had in my travels was getting injured. Yes, it was an opportunity. I had a brief glimpse at another countries health care system. And I was forced to re-evaluate my surroundings with the perspective of being (slightly) handicapped.

While I was in Sweden I managed to break my foot. My Swedish friend said I should wait until I was back in London to see a doctor. The health care in Sweden was too expensive, she said.  I had no trouble waiting, I was in denial I’d actually broken my foot. In fact, I was in denial for an additional three days after returning to London.

On the fourth day I decided it was time to get things checked out. Because of my casual manor, the nurses didn’t believe my foot was broken either. But after the doctor took one look at me he rushed me off for x-rays. He bandaged me up in a temporary cast, handed me some crutches and told me to return in five days. I was alone, an hour from my flat by train, and now on crutches.

Getting home was a whole new challenge. Not only was it taking twice as long for me to maneuver with the crutches, but also I had to make a new game plan for the route home. Even though I rode the train daily, I had to stop and study the map to determine which stops were handicap accessible.  Get off at the wrong stop and I could be confronted with a steep staircase. Luckily, I ran in to a friend on the train and he offered to give me a piggyback ride home from the station.

Another friend came back to the hospital with me five days later. The waiting room was an unusual scene. The emergency room in England is free and they must treat everyone. So, in effect, there were several homeless people coming in to be seen. Some of them were not in their right minds and started a fight. After they were escorted out, the mood brightened up as a snack cart made it’s way around the room. My friend and I looked at each other and couldn’t help but snicker. All of this seemed to be out of place.

I managed to convince the doctor to give me a walking cast. I was only a month in to my semester abroad and wasn’t about to let a plaster cast ruin my plans!  Once I had the walking cast, I was literally back on my feet. Five days later I was on a ten-day tour to Spain and Switzerland. The only thing my injury stopped me from was paragliding in the Alps.