It will be some time before Julie gets back to her blog posts, although she does have a lot to say. I will explain what has happened, for those who have been reading this, and have not been connected to Julie’s Facebook page.
We were having a great time in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, especially the fantastic temple there. We traveled to Trichy on the Friday by Ambassador taxi. Saturday we explored the Sri Sangam temple, and Sunday we went up the Rock Fort temple. We were so much enjoying being in the Rock Fort bazaar area. Sunday afternoon disaster struck.
It began with loud sparks on the cable of the transformer outside the hotel. We were concerned, but everyone at the front desk seemed calm about things. To stop the sparking of the transformer, they turned it off with an iron bar someone found in the bushes (there is a vacant lot next to the hotel where the transformer is situated). Unknown to us, in the hotel basement they had trouble starting the generator – there was too much current still in the lines. They switched it off, then tried again, which ignited a fire at the switch board box. This fire was only small, but it produced a huge amount of smoke which soon filled the whole hotel. By the time we decided to make a run for it down the stairs it was too late – the place was filled with acrid smoke and pitch darkness. We returned to our room, that at least had a window.
We had no idea the fire was only small, and assumed it matched the smoke. The only way out was through the window, but there was no way we could see to do that – we were about three floors up from the ground. Finally they lowered a rope, then brought it across to our window. I could tell they were securing the rope, but how on earth was Julie going to get down on a thick hessian rope? It became a situation where we did not have the luxury of doing nothing – we had to try the rope. I climbed out the window and secured myself on the rope. Julie climbed onto the window ledge, got a leg and arms around me, but when she shifted off the sill, she fell backwards. She hit the cable that was previously sparking, then down to the ground, where she lay in the classic dead-body posture.
I panicked and slid down the rope as fast as I could go, until about two thirds of the way down I felt a burning pain in my hands. Realising immediately you can’t do that with rope, I let go and dropped the rest of the way, spraining my ankle, but aside from my hands being all bloody and stripped of skin, I was fine. We got Julie to a hospital around the corner, where she went straight into ICU. They were wonderful in their professionalism. After numerous scans it soon became clear all Julie had suffered was fractured bones in her jaw, wrist, ribs and pelvis, with a small brain bleed (she also had small fractures in the scull).
The hotel management and staff did so much to help me and Julie, that I can never repay them for the gratitude I owe – I can’t imagine how I would have coped without their unstinting support and assistance. Especially as I could not use my hands for weeks. In fact, almost everyone I met in the area over the month I stayed there, was personally affected by our situation, and constantly asking about my wife’s condition. All the people of this area demonstrated such warmth and support, it really touched me.
Julie spent two weeks in ICU and another two weeks in a single room. The hospital staff were truly excellent in all they did to help her. Finally she was well enough, but it was obvious she could not remain in India to rehabilitate. The travel insurance company flew us both directly back from Trichy to Armidale Hospital in Australia, our home town. There is so much more to tell about this dramatic time, but it will have to wait. Currently Julie is in Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, mainly for an infection in her eye (she had an operation which appears to have been quite successful), and a multi-resistant NDM bacteria connected with her catheter. The NDM soon left after the catheter was removed, so all she needs now is time to heal the brain injury effects and learn to walk again after spending seven weeks in bed.
I am sure she will eventually return to her blog here, to tell the story from her point of view. For someone who should have died in that fall, she is on track to making a complete recovery. It’s a miracle. Something was watching over her through this extraordinary experience, and still is.