Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Lundi, 25 Mars 2013: Grave Accidents

I had just dropped Gregoire off at the crêche when I got home and heard yelling outside of our gates. I open the window and see that there is a runner that is trying to fend off Google--our family dog. The guy is kind of being a maniac and waving his arms all around and cursing. He keeps on running and then stopping and running and stopping so the dog obviously thinks it's a game right? I could see that the guy was genuinely scared so I yelled out the window 'Don't worry! She's nice!' The guy just starts mocking me and says 'She's nice? Yeah, right.' I could see that he wasn't going to help the situation in any way so I ran out of the house to grab Google. As I was running toward them the man screamed and said 'Ah! She bit me! I'm going to call the police!' That's when I grabbed the dog, threw her in the house, texted my host mom, and left. Google is a sweet dog if you know her but she has major obedience issues. We live in a very scenic area and the weather is getting much nicer so there are increasingly more runners and bikers coming through. In January, Google jumped on an old woman and made her fall. I told Didier about it but he didn't really do anything. Not only am I a nanny, but I'm also a dog keeper as well.

Maman had fixed Andréa up with our family chiropractor and friend after she had heard he had back issues. We visited Serge Monday in Aubagne so that Andréa could get his back adjusted. I was also overdue for my treatment so I made an appointment as well. Today's visit was kind of funny. I was the first one in and Serge did something a bit different today--he cracked my pubic bone!!! I had experienced this painful sensation in the past when I'd be doing toe-touches at cheerleading matches but I hadn't felt it in years. It took me by surprise and Andréa says that he heard me yell all the way out in the waiting room. He wasn't any different when he went in though. All Serge did on him was a back adjustment and he startled the whole waiting room as he screamed. I think Serge maybe hurt him because Andréa never completely relaxes. I can feel it when I give him massages. 

Andréa and I were back on the road after about an hour with Serge. I felt tons better and Andréa felt worse. It's natural for you to have some discomfort after your first back adjustment because most of your muscles have been trained to pull in a different direction. Most of the nerves are also probably feeling sensations that they haven't felt in a long time. 

As we were entering the round-a-bout to take the exit toward Marseille we realized there was a huge traffic jam. It wasn't an odd hour for it because school would just be getting out but there was something weird about this one. The cars were just packed on one side of the circle. As Andréa tried to find an opening through the sea of cars we saw what was holding up traffic. There was a woman laying on the road with people around her. I immediately told Andréa that he had to stop the car because I couldn't stop without seeing if I could help. 

Andréa wasn't even completely stopped before I was out the door. I zig-zagged through the cars until I reached the woman. There was one man holding her down while another man was on a phone. The woman kept on trying to get up, this was when I saw the back of her head which was completely crushed with blood oozing through her brown hair. Words escaped me, I couldn't think of how to speak in french because I kept thinking in english, I was panicking. The girl was about my age, pretty--if you could imagine her without blood coming out of every orifice. Suddenly, the protector in me checked in and I said "Bougez pas!!!" She just started crying and said to the man holding her down "Lachez-moi!!!" I knew that if she kept on pushing about that her blood pressure would keep rising and that more blood would try to rush out. She had already looked like she had lost about a liter on the road. It was an absolutely horrific scene. I've worked in three hospitals in my life in Radiology, Pediatrics, Pathology, and the Emergency Room so I'm no stranger to gore. It was different here though. It was scary knowing that there were no doctors around and no tools to help. I was getting ready to give her my jacket to lay her head on when she started fighting with the guy again. This is when I snapped my fingers and said to her "Listen, you have to stop moving!" She kind of just looked at me with comprehension and just cried. Everyone was starting to get out of their cars at this point and I didn't know what more I could do so I made sure that an ambulance was coming, and walked away. I don't know what France's laws are on good sumaritans but I know that people like me are not always welcomed in foreign countries. I've even read about good sumaritans being sued. But it's not like I've had much medical training anyway. I know the basic stuff and I don't even know if it would've helped. 

I was kind of in a daze the rest of the day. I wondered what had happened to the girl--how she came to have such horrible wounds. The men that were there said that they found her like that. Why did she keep trying to get up? Was it an attempted suicide? I wish I would've said 'Fuck the laws' and done more. I think a little jail time would be worth helping save someone's life. I should have at least stayed there until the ambulance came but I had to remember that I have four kids to pick up everyday. I couldn't leave the kids at their schools and expect them to understand. 

I can't find anything about it on the news or online. French news sucks. If this happened back at home you'd probably be able to find it on multiple news sources. I really just hope the girl made it...I can't stop thinking about her

No comments:

Post a Comment