With the help of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue team and Susan, my date Tim and I got to the local hospital to have his broken and/or dislocated ankle seen to. We just came in at A&E like everybody else. And the outlook was bleak; the sign above the reception said waiting time was 12 hours. People were looking resigned.
We were seen well within the 12 hours. That was the good news. The bad news was that the emergency doctor just whipped off the vacuum splint that kept Tim’s leg together. Just like that! Obviously, it immediately dislocated again. And there were no drugs at hand. This was torture.
He got himself a plaster back slab and an X-ray, and an orthopaedic surgeon explained what would be next. He had a double fracture, in addition to the dislocation, and he would need surgery to have all the bits screwed back into position again. It would be better to have that surgery in Chester. He is local to that hospital, so he would be prioritised. In Wales he would be at the back of the queue! But they said they would give him a stronger cast before sending him home with me.
Getting him in a new cast was another round of torture. And it even wasn’t successful. So after all that they decided they didn’t actually support torture, and would put on a last cast (hopefully) under strong anaesthetics. And they did. After every attempt they had to X-ray him to check all bone fragments were actually aligned. After the first sedated attempt they weren’t, so they had to do it again. But then, the second time around with proper sedation, they got it right.
It was almost 11 o'clock at night when we could finally leave. Susan came to get us. And even with his cast, Tim was very fragile. Getting him into the house was hard. And I plonked him straight into my bed. I would sleep upstairs! I had a shower but other things would have to wait. This day had been long enough...
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