COVID-19 Thoughts II: The Walk
This is the second post of thoughts related to COVID-19. Most of it isn't mine; because while I was a character in the real-life story you're about to read, I was not the hero. The following italicized paragraph's were written by my partner, after we got back from taking a walk from our home. We live on the outskirts of a city of over 65,000 people, so we walk through several neighborhoods. With that pretext, I'll let you read the rest.
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Once upon a time (for real though), 2 teachers, Matt Beattie & myself went for a walk, leaving behind our phones... but bringing our face masks (because that's the world we live in). Little did we know we wished we had at least one phone with us. We decided to walk the "big loop", getting off the main road and into a cute neighbourhood - as we came around the corner, we saw a woman(mid-40's) struggling to get up the stairs - shaking, unsteady, and then fell backwards from the 3rd or 4th step. SMACK - her back and head against the tar driveway. Running towards her - racing thoughts, unknown neighbourhood, global pandemic, no cell phone to call for help, I send Matt running to pound on neighbours doors to call 9-1-1, while I stay with the woman - trying to stay calm, asking her for her name, where she works (saw a health-care badge around her neck), she was wearing scrubs and looked a bit.... "out of it". I saw she was bleeding on her hand - probably from the fall, but her response was, "it was my dog". So now thinking - great - her dog is going to try and eat me.. but wait - it's fresh blood and she only just arrived home.. > hummm.. Meanwhile Matt returned with a neighbour who initially didn't want to call 9-1-1, saying it wouldn't be the 1st time she's needed an ambulance - but I saw her hit her head, and knowing just weeks ago what it was like to hit my head on carpeted floor from 3ft high was one thing... from 6-8ft high to pavement is another.... I begged him to call for help, but he was still reluctant.
Then... we all turned around and she managed to tremble her way into her house... and them BAM - she fell again, I looked at the neighbour, and desperately asked him to call 9-1-1, when he hesitated again, I ran down the nearest car... Long story short 9-1-1 was called, and the questions they asked... ugg - I know with the pandemic going on, they have to ask certain questions, but being complete strangers to this woman, made answering such questions difficult (temperature, coughing, all the COVID-19 symptoms).
While help was on the way - I asked the woman if I could come in, and if her dog was friendly... "Of course, come in and yes - she is very friendly". As I enter this woman's house - dog greeting me with a bloody sock - leading me to the woman - who is now lying on her couch with her head resting back on her hands - again, resuming conversations about her, keeping her distracted... She said she was a physical therapist, she was tired, and she called her mom and boyfriend. I'm thinking - okay, this is good - but something seems off... alcohol... drugs... something doesn't feel right.
Then comes the fire truck and ambulance - phew! Two men suit up in COVID-19 protective onesies and head inside. What seemed an eternity, answering as many questions as possible - she finally came out, men on either side of her, she was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, and off she went on the stretcher. As the ambulance drove away, we hung back - what about the dog... what about the boyfriend... when will he be home.. Literally 30 seconds after the firetruck & ambulance pulled away - the boyfriend in a BIG-ass truck pulls up... Matt and I thinking - shit, we're dead... His first words were, "was that her in the ambulance", we all nodded. The boyfriend got out, and gave us her whole life story for the past 20 years - she a raging alcoholic, either passed out or barely functioning, in and out of rehab, but a damn good lier (she did not actually call her mom and boyfriend), she just knew that's what we wanted her to do.. sucked me in hard core, and all we wanted was to get her help. Oh, and she's not a physical therapist - she's wears the badge and scrubs to get free stuff, ugg - she played the part well..
The boyfriend thanked us, and we all parted ways, but damn... who knew our 30 minute walk would turn into an hour plus 9-1-1 rescue the inebriated-concussed woman.
Makes you think about your life, what you have, what you don't have, and the people you surround yourself with.
Thank you to all you 1st responders & health care professionals out there - your job is incredibly hard, add a pandemic on top of that - your true heroes.
And from now on... a cell phone will be with us.
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The only thing I would like to add is this: There's a moment in this story that I will never forget. From my perspective, I remember looking to my left and seeing the woman fall. It was a limp body fall, the kind that makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck because when it happens, something is very wrong. Then, my partner started sprinting, and I did too. It took us maybe 10 seconds to get over to the woman. While we were running towards her, I remember thinking that we obviously had to do something to help this woman, but we couldn't touch her. We couldn't get too close. I remember thinking that we didn't have our masks. My partner's heart is several sized too big, and so I remember thinking that if it comes to it, I'm going to have to hold her back, because, selfishly, I want her to not get sick. I remember thinking that this 911 call will be different now. I remember thinking that nobody is going to answer their door to a frantic, un-masked stranger.
Luckily, there was a neighbor outside, and we were able to keep our distance, and everything worked out alright. The world we inhabit is changing, and I don't mean the climate this time. With social distancing and mail-order everything, it's easy to live in a bubble. This was my first real experience with the chaos of every day life in a COVID-19 world. The last time I saw someone get carted into the back of an ambulance, I was out to dinner at a restaurant with a group of 15 people. This time, it was different. It worked, the woman got assistance, and the first responders stayed as safe as they could. Once they had determined the woman wasn't in a life threatening situation, the leader of the team told us that they were,"going to take their time," and they did. They didn't dawdle by any means; instead of going right into her house, they went right into full PPE. This is the world we live in now. It might be for a while, it might not. But the chaos of the world goes on.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, be well.
---
Once upon a time (for real though), 2 teachers, Matt Beattie & myself went for a walk, leaving behind our phones... but bringing our face masks (because that's the world we live in). Little did we know we wished we had at least one phone with us. We decided to walk the "big loop", getting off the main road and into a cute neighbourhood - as we came around the corner, we saw a woman(mid-40's) struggling to get up the stairs - shaking, unsteady, and then fell backwards from the 3rd or 4th step. SMACK - her back and head against the tar driveway. Running towards her - racing thoughts, unknown neighbourhood, global pandemic, no cell phone to call for help, I send Matt running to pound on neighbours doors to call 9-1-1, while I stay with the woman - trying to stay calm, asking her for her name, where she works (saw a health-care badge around her neck), she was wearing scrubs and looked a bit.... "out of it". I saw she was bleeding on her hand - probably from the fall, but her response was, "it was my dog". So now thinking - great - her dog is going to try and eat me.. but wait - it's fresh blood and she only just arrived home.. > hummm.. Meanwhile Matt returned with a neighbour who initially didn't want to call 9-1-1, saying it wouldn't be the 1st time she's needed an ambulance - but I saw her hit her head, and knowing just weeks ago what it was like to hit my head on carpeted floor from 3ft high was one thing... from 6-8ft high to pavement is another.... I begged him to call for help, but he was still reluctant.
Then... we all turned around and she managed to tremble her way into her house... and them BAM - she fell again, I looked at the neighbour, and desperately asked him to call 9-1-1, when he hesitated again, I ran down the nearest car... Long story short 9-1-1 was called, and the questions they asked... ugg - I know with the pandemic going on, they have to ask certain questions, but being complete strangers to this woman, made answering such questions difficult (temperature, coughing, all the COVID-19 symptoms).
While help was on the way - I asked the woman if I could come in, and if her dog was friendly... "Of course, come in and yes - she is very friendly". As I enter this woman's house - dog greeting me with a bloody sock - leading me to the woman - who is now lying on her couch with her head resting back on her hands - again, resuming conversations about her, keeping her distracted... She said she was a physical therapist, she was tired, and she called her mom and boyfriend. I'm thinking - okay, this is good - but something seems off... alcohol... drugs... something doesn't feel right.
Then comes the fire truck and ambulance - phew! Two men suit up in COVID-19 protective onesies and head inside. What seemed an eternity, answering as many questions as possible - she finally came out, men on either side of her, she was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, and off she went on the stretcher. As the ambulance drove away, we hung back - what about the dog... what about the boyfriend... when will he be home.. Literally 30 seconds after the firetruck & ambulance pulled away - the boyfriend in a BIG-ass truck pulls up... Matt and I thinking - shit, we're dead... His first words were, "was that her in the ambulance", we all nodded. The boyfriend got out, and gave us her whole life story for the past 20 years - she a raging alcoholic, either passed out or barely functioning, in and out of rehab, but a damn good lier (she did not actually call her mom and boyfriend), she just knew that's what we wanted her to do.. sucked me in hard core, and all we wanted was to get her help. Oh, and she's not a physical therapist - she's wears the badge and scrubs to get free stuff, ugg - she played the part well..
The boyfriend thanked us, and we all parted ways, but damn... who knew our 30 minute walk would turn into an hour plus 9-1-1 rescue the inebriated-concussed woman.
Makes you think about your life, what you have, what you don't have, and the people you surround yourself with.
Thank you to all you 1st responders & health care professionals out there - your job is incredibly hard, add a pandemic on top of that - your true heroes.
And from now on... a cell phone will be with us.
---
The only thing I would like to add is this: There's a moment in this story that I will never forget. From my perspective, I remember looking to my left and seeing the woman fall. It was a limp body fall, the kind that makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck because when it happens, something is very wrong. Then, my partner started sprinting, and I did too. It took us maybe 10 seconds to get over to the woman. While we were running towards her, I remember thinking that we obviously had to do something to help this woman, but we couldn't touch her. We couldn't get too close. I remember thinking that we didn't have our masks. My partner's heart is several sized too big, and so I remember thinking that if it comes to it, I'm going to have to hold her back, because, selfishly, I want her to not get sick. I remember thinking that this 911 call will be different now. I remember thinking that nobody is going to answer their door to a frantic, un-masked stranger.
Luckily, there was a neighbor outside, and we were able to keep our distance, and everything worked out alright. The world we inhabit is changing, and I don't mean the climate this time. With social distancing and mail-order everything, it's easy to live in a bubble. This was my first real experience with the chaos of every day life in a COVID-19 world. The last time I saw someone get carted into the back of an ambulance, I was out to dinner at a restaurant with a group of 15 people. This time, it was different. It worked, the woman got assistance, and the first responders stayed as safe as they could. Once they had determined the woman wasn't in a life threatening situation, the leader of the team told us that they were,"going to take their time," and they did. They didn't dawdle by any means; instead of going right into her house, they went right into full PPE. This is the world we live in now. It might be for a while, it might not. But the chaos of the world goes on.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, be well.
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