First and foremost, we are fine now. 2 months have past since this day, so do not worry… However, what happens next is not joyful at all, it’s quite the opposite actually, so if any kid is reading or listening to this story, we suggest they skip this part (and maybe next one too). Don’t worry, soon, we’ll post new exciting adventures (hopefully), but we still wanted to tell you about the nightmare we lived back in december. Everything cannot always be joyful and exciting on an adventure. So here goes…
We are driving slowly, taking our time, admiring the countryside. Julia, is finally fully enjoying the scooter ride. But there’s a patch of gravels on the road we can’t avoid and despite our slow velocity, the scooter slides right then and we all fall down to the floor, sliding on the road with the momentum. Côme is lying face first on the floor, screaming and crying. Both Julia and Doo rush to lift him up. He’s got blood on his face and his right leg is carved so deep into his flesh that his cartilage is even visible. From that moment on, it’s just panic, horror and screams… Doo runs towards the village, 50 metres from the fall and screams for the villagers to call an ambulance. Julia is holding Côme in her arms. “Mom ?! Are we dead ?!” – “No, we’re not sweety… We’re going to be fine…”. She has not yet taken a good look at her own wound but is terrified for Côme. Doo is now running back to them and takes a look at Julia’s injury. It’s even worse than Côme’s. Underneath her right knee her flesh is completely shredded and there is a huge gash, so deep it’s horrifying. The villagers come to help us. Doo keeps on yelling to call an ambulance, quickly. They tell him the ambulance is on its way and suggest we take refuge in the village. Doo carries a terrified and bleeding Côme to a shelter, the villagers help Julia to walk. She then tells Doo she doesn’t feel very well. Doo tells her to lay down and not to look at her own leg. We both try to reassure Côme, tell him he is not going to die, that all will be fine. He thinks the cartilage he saw is his bone, a sure sign he’s about to “go to the stars”. After the 15 longest minutes of our lives, the ambulance is finally on sight. Doo rushes towards it. “We need to go to a hospital!! We need to hurry!!!!” In the ambulance, a crying Côme tells Doo: “This is just a dream, right Doo!? It can’t be real… I’m going to wake up…”. Doo has never wished so hard in his life a wish could be granted…
When we arrive at the hospital, we are rushed inside. The nurses lay Côme and Julia down on a bed in the corridor but when they take a good look at the wounds, they tell us that there are no doctors here and that it’s too serious for them to treat Côme and Julia. This is just a clinic, not a hospital. “What?! Where is the hospital then?”. The hospital is a long way away. The nurses tell the ambulance driver to drive us there but they start to clean the wounds first. Côme is screaming, Julia is trying not to cry, Doo is completely panicked. Police officers have arrived to the clinic, they start asking questions about the accident and our IDs and all… “What?!” Doo can’t believe what’s happening. “Sorry sir, but I need them to be treated. I’ll tell you everything you want and give you everything you want afterwards but right now THEY are my absolute priority”. The police officer understands and steps back.
We are then taken to the “real” hospital. We’ve been driving for about half an hour. “We are never going back on a scooter right?” asks Côme – “No.. Never.” Says Julia. “Don’t worry”. Once at the hospital, we rush inside once again. There are two beds right at the entrance. Doo asks to see the doctor and urges him to attend to Côme and Julia’s wounds. A very slow and unconcerned nurse then comes with a piece of paper and tells Doo he has to buy those supplies from the pharmacy first and then they will treat Côme and Julia. “Are you freaking kidding me?! Don’t worry!! I’ll pay for everything you want!! Just treat them NOW!!!”. So the doctor slowly comes and starts to take a look at the wounds…
He starts to clean Côme’s wound, and as he does it, Côme is screaming like his body is being ripped apart, like he is being tortured. There is no other sound in the hospital but Côme’s screams. Everybody looks frightened and sad. As for us… our souls are just being crushed right there and then… This is by far the most devastating moment of both our lives. Doo tries to talk about Groin and Meuh’s adventure around the world. Côme’s favorite stories, but it is useless… Nothing can eleviate the unbearable pain…
After cleaning Côme’s wound, the doctor turns to Julia and the nurse hands Doo another piece of paper for him to buy the medical supplies they need to cover her wound. One of the police officers (who followed us to this hospital) approches once again. Before he can say anything, Doo tells him: “Please, please, just wait…”. There is no more anger or panic in his voice, just complete and utter despair… The police officer backs away once more.
When Doo returns with the medical supplies, the doctor tells him Julia’s wound is so deep, he’s going to have to stitch it. Julia is scared she’s going to be butchered and asks Doo to tell the doctor to try to make it so it’s not ugly. The doctor laughs at the request and proceeds with the anesthetic injection. He clearly injects too little of it, he must be saving every miligram of the liquid he can because when he takes a fishing hook to sow Julia’s leg, she screams with intense pain. He then injects more of it and continue with the stitching. Julia is still in extreme pain but she tries to refrain from screaming so as to not to scare Côme. When the doctor is finished, he asks Doo to come and check his work saying “It’s the best I could do.” Considering Julia’s skin was just shredded, it looks “great”…
Doo then has to return once more to the pharmacy for more supplies and notices the police officers who are still waiting patiently. He goes talk to them. “Excuse-me? Why are you here by the way? We fell on our own, no one else was hurt…” – “It’s the procedure sir when foreigners have an accident.” – “Alright, I see…” The officer is asking all of the paperwork: passports, driving license, documents of the scooter… He also asks if we want them to go get the scooter for us… That is something Doo had not even thought of until now… How are we going to get back there? How are we going to bring the scooter back to the rental shop? How are we going to go back home? We are miles away… The scooter is in the middle of the countryside, we’ve returned to that part of the island it took us 5h to get away from last time… Doo desperately asks “Can you takes us to the scooter? Can you take us home?” – “Yes sir!” – “Really?! Can you wait until we’re done here?” – “Yes sir!” – “Oh thank you!! Thank you!!!” The three police officers will wait more than an hour until Côme and Julia are ready to go.
When it’s time to cover Côme’s wound, the nurse just puts a dry gauze on it. “Are you kidding me?’ says Doo, “It’s going to stick to the wound!! It’s going to be extremely painful to take it off and the wound will not heal!!” Doo suffered the same inappropriate care in Portugal when he was a kid and kept a huge scar as well as painful memories from it… But there is nothing this nurse is hearing and she poorly dresses Côme’s wound. The doctor then gives us antibiotics, tells us to change the bandages everyday and remove the stitches 10 days from now and then he sends us on our way… The police escorts us to the police station where Julia and Côme will wait while Doo is brought to the scooter to bring it back to the station. It’s getting really late, the police officers invite us to share their dinner but none of us has appetite. We will wait for some time at the station until they are able to escort us back home with the right pick-up truck. On the way back, we’ll blow a tire and have to wait for yet another change of vehicle…
It’s 10:30 pm when we finally get “home”… Côme and Julia are laying on the bed. Doo is standing in front of them. We are all devastated. We’re definitely in hell right now. “What are we going to do?!?” …