Celebrating my first year anniversary

Exactly on this very day, one year back i had this surgery done on me for fixing my hand. All that starts as a fun can end up into something miserable with time. This is one such incident in my life.

Date 17/12/2006 :
The previous day night Lokesh came to me and asked me for a trip to Munnar, that too at 11pm in the night. So i agreed to the trip , which is supposed to be a road trip from our college in coimbatore to Munnar in Kerala ( a 4.5 hour drive from coimbatore). I got up at early morning 4 and got ready for the wonderful ride which is waiting for me. We started our journey from my friends house at around 6am. Since this was not a well planned event, i didn't even had time to inform many people (mainly parents) about the trip, which turned out to be a bad idea later.

It was a clear morning and the weather was perfect for the trip. We took some little bit of snacks and water bottles started our cruise with the pulsars. We reach Munnar in about 4.5 hours. It is a wonderful place which was fully covered with tea estates and lush greenery. That day was full of sight seeing activities and some boating in a nearby lake. And also went to the peak of the hills which was the most enjoyable experience.

Date 18/12/2006:
The next day was a fine day and a fine morning. All were tired from the previous days activities and we managed to get up only late and we got ready for the sight seeing. We went to a falls which was nearby and then to the suicide point. After lunch we planned for the descend from the mountains hoping to reach coimbatore by 5PM. So as usual we started our bikes and started descending the mountains. The roads were very curvy and the slopes were too much in the mountains. Everything was going fine and we almost traveled half the way down the mountains.

It was around 2.30 in the afternoon. Little did we realize that we were traveling bit faster due to the slopes in the mountains. Then suddenly came a sharp turning, and we were not able to maintain the balance of the bike. We somehow tried to control it , but it was out of our control. The next second myself and lokesh both were lying on the road. We were unable to realize what had happened to us. The bike was on one side of the road and we were lying in the middle of road. Its good that no other vehicle passed by that time.

It took me few seconds to realize that i am lying on the road and lokesh at a little distance from me. Somehow i got up and went to the safer side of the road. Only then i realized that something was wrong with my hand. I was not able to fold it easily. I just thought it would be a sprain or swelling due to the fall. Then somebody was shouting and yelling like anything as if he has lost his life. It was none other than lokesh. I could see the fear in his face. Everybody was little confused and don't know what to do. Suddenly Vamsi and Srinivas came to rescue. Srinivas brings the spray from somewhere and applies it on my hand. Mohan and Sandeep made lokesh to settle down.

Then only Vamsi slowly told me that it could be a fracture by seeing the swelling on my hand and the mysterious shape of it. I was very much shocked by hearing that. And Srinivas brings his sweater and ties it around my neck and made my hand to rest properly. I was even more frightened by seeing the reactions of lokesh at that particular moment. Then i felt a little bit of giddiness mainly because of my fear. Vamsi brought some water and made me sit properly.

Now starts our real adventure and series of events that i could never forget in my life. Vamsi slowly came near me and asked whether i am ok. I said yes , still feeling my giddiness. Then two local villagers who happened to pass by that way , told us there was a small clinic nearby. So Vamsi told me to sit on his bike. I somehow managed to get on the bike and i was holding him tightly, so that i wont fall from the bike. So we start first. And lokesh was taken care by srinivas and sandeep. So we came to a nearby clinic. But i was terribly disappointed when there was no doctor available. There was only a lady, who was supposed to be a pharmacist. Not knowing what to do, she just gave me a tablet of pain killer and advised us to go to the doctor in Munnar. But already we were half the way down and going back would take more than 2 hours. Then we started to move from that place expecting to meet someone. To my surprise Lokesh , srinivas , Mohan and Sandeep had managed to find out a doctor who was on leave and in his house. So i was taken there. By seeing my hand he told me , it was a fracture and he told even more shocking things. "It could be a multiple fracture also" said the doctor. I was taken aback. He adviced us to go to either Munnar or to Udumalpet for the treatment.

Then started my worst of the fears. I have not even informed my parents about the trip and i didn't know what to do. Then someone gave me some stupid ideas and all. But finally we decided to go to Coimbatore before the evening. So i got on to the bike while Vamsi was driving it. They made arrangements so that my hand was properly protected from the jerks of the bike. And Vamsi managed to drive the bike at a dead slow speed so that the jerks didn't disturb my hand. From time to time we stopped to synchronize our bikes and spray the pain killer spray on my hand. Within 2 hours my hand had swollen like anything and the pain was increasing a bit. But finally we managed to reach the coimbatore by around 7.30 in the evening. We get to Ganga hospital and the doctor told me to take an X-ray. Taking an X-ray was the most painful thing , that too with the broken hand. And i was getting irritated with that lab attendant. After the X-ray the doctor said that its was a single fracture and it had to be operated. Not knowing what to do i called my father. With little bit of anger, frustration and care my father told me to do the first-aid and come to my house, so that i can take treatment in CMC, Vellore. After getting my first-aid and plaster of Paris on my hand , i caught the next train along with lokesh accompanying me.


Date 19/12/2006 :
The next morning , we visited the doctor and he said that a surgery had to be done and a plate had to be fixed in my hand. So i get admitted the same day and got operated the next day. The surgery was another gruesome experience. Even though they gave me sedatives during the surgery , i woke up in the middle of the surgery. I could clearly hear the sound of drilling that is being done to my hand and doctors were talking in some technical terms. Again i went back to sleep and lost consciousness. After the surgery i had to stay in the hospital for a day and then got discharged.
The recovery from this was another terrible experience. I had to do physiotherapy regularly in order to use my hand properly. It took nearly 1.5 months for me to use the hand as usual. Even the folding of hands would be difficult and caused lot of pain to me.
The accident gave me lot of experiences in life and memories which i ll not forget for life. It was my first accident and a fracture. But in a way, i am happy that i escaped with just a fracture and nothing seriously happened. And something which starts as a fun can lead to something terrible in life, which we may not realize at the time of enjoyment.