The next day (15 July 2010) I woke up with massive pain… the worst was over I thought.
While I was unable to leave by bed, rudi was operating the Chirundu crowd including the police, doctors, farmers (who later helped to transport the bike back from Zambia to SA). Rudi went into Red cross camel man mode. The fact that the bike was already at the chirundu police station by the time I arrived there shows how quickly rudi can organise people (or get them to do/commit to things).
Anyway, back to the pain…
As scheduled, SOS emergency services picked me up from chirundu. The 3h30min drive from Chirundu to Lusaka went by in a blur as I was drugged to the max. The ambulance arrived in Lusaka at about 14h00 that afternoon. I booked in and the nurses said the orthopaedic surgeon will be with me before 16h00 – he had to confirm my medical condition before Discovery would send out an air ambulance to fetch me.
So time just kept ticking away. It felt like I was sitting in prison waiting to be released - the surgeon only arrived at about 19h00 that evening and guess what; he confirmed that I had a pelvis break. But he also ordered additional x-rays of my knee and back. The only problem - the hospital in Lusaka do not have an x-ray machine not do they have any ambulances or any transport for patients. So the nurse came up with a great idea ‘why don’t your friend take you to the university hospital on his bike. They’ve got an x-ray machine there’. Imagine how ridiculous that idea was…
So about at about 22h00 I drifted to a pethidene induced deep sleep. Obviously, there would not be any more activities that day… But, would you beleive it, at 23h00 a nurse woke me and told me they organised a taxi without seats in the back. I could not believe this!! Drugged up, half asleep and in massive pain. I now had to be loaded onto a stretcher, carried to the makeshift ambulance, transported about 5 km to the university hospital via badly damaged and potholed road, offloaded at the hospital. Pain and confusion!!!
We arrived at the university hospital. The driver, with some assistance from the hospital staff, offloaded me from the ‘ambulance’ and put me on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. Some administrative staff came outside and requested I pay an upfront fee to use their x-ray equipment. Now I’m lying there with only my hospital robe on, on a stretcher - I had nothing on me and the guy could see that. So the admin staff and taxi drivers went inside the hospital to negotiate. For the next hour I would be lying outside the hospital on the pavement in the middle of Lusaka. Crazy times.
Time passed, got the x-rays – there was no structural damage to back or knee… hurrah!!!
Back at the hospital the surgeon notified discovery insurance that the damage was to the pelvis break only. They were just about to authorise my airlift from Lusaka when another patient took up his spot beside me. He was bitten by a lion; he was their new priority so another day in Zambia loomed for me.