Survival - 18. Surv Chapter 18

When the rescue stretcher arrived, I was placed into it, covered with a blanket and strapped in, before a team of rescuers slowly lowered me down the slope, just as I heard a helicopter approaching the area, and it landed on the beach about 400 metres away.

While this was being done, Will packed up all our gear, and with the help of the rescuers, he was also brought down the slope, along with our backpacks, and we were soon strapped into the back of the helicopter and on our way to Hobart.

Once there, Will and I were thoroughly examined for our injuries, and I was informed that I would have to have surgery on my foot, as I had several broken bones in my ankle, and I was asked by the nurse, who my next of kin is.

“That would be my uncle, as my parents are living and working overseas in Canada at the moment. His name is Major Nathan Blackwood, Warradale Army Base, Adelaide” I replied. “Oh! You are the young man, the mountaineer from Adelaide?’ the nurse stated, “That would be correct, but I fear that my climbing career, may have ended with this foot injury” I replied.

“The orthopaedic surgeon here is one of the best, I am sure he will have you fixed up and climbing again soon” the nurse said before leaving.When I woke up from the surgery, I realised that I was in a hospital bed, and in the bed next to me was Will, who was talking to someone, who had their back to me.

I tried to sit up, so I could get some water, and groaned at the pain in my foot, which caught the attention of Will and his visitor, who was the Colonel, Will’s father. “Colonel sir, did my uncle come too?” I asked, “No son, someone had to stay and run the base, and as my second in command, he has that job, but he did send his best wishes, and hopes you come home very soon” the Colonel replied, as he poured some water into a glass and handed it to me.

“The orthopaedic surgeon examined Will’s shoulder, before you were taken to surgery, and he said that you should take up medicine, as you did a good job of putting Will’s arm back into place” the Colonel added, “Thanks sir, but if my ankle heals well, I plan to join the army” I replied, as I slid back down under my covers, and I was soon fast asleep again.

When I woke up again, it was dark outside, and when the nurse saw that I was awake, she went and retrieved some dinner for me, and while I ate, Will informed me that he was being discharged from hospital in the morning, and that he and his father were flying back to Adelaide in the early afternoon, which made me a little sad.

“You made the papers again, this time with me included” Will added, and he handed me the newspaper that was on his bedside cabinet. I was glad that it was not on the front page of the paper, but instead on page three, with school photos of Will and me, below the headlines.

“Australian teenage mountaineer injured in hiking mishap” was the headlines, and I sighed before beginning to read the article. “Jacob Blackwood, well known for the many summit climbs he has successfully reached, was badly injured recently, while coming to the aid of his hiking buddy, Will Hammond.

Will had slipped and a fallen down a steep slope near the edge of the South Coast Track in Tasmania, just over a day out from completing the 85-kilometre long South Coast Track, from Melaleuca to Cockle Creek, after having already completing the 71-kilometre long Port Davey Track from Scott’s Peak to Melaleuca.

Mr Hammond had sustained concussion and a dislocated shoulder in the fall, which Mr Blackwood had successfully put back into place, while Mr Blackwood had suffered two broken bones in his ankle, that required specialist surgery in Hobart, where the pair are currently recovering from their ordeal, after spending five days stranded in a valley near the bottom of the hill, just above the well-known Lion Rock, before they were found, having been reported missing two days earlier”.

“Well that is interesting” I stated after reading he news article, and we chatted about our hiking trip a bit, before I began to get sleepy again. When I woke in the morning, my foot was hurting like hell, and I pressed the buzzer for assistance. When the nurse came in and saw my foot, she dashed out of the room, returning a short time later with the doctor, and within a few minutes, I was rushed back to surgery.

When I next woke up, I had an unusual tingling feeling in my foot, and I saw that the bed beside me was empty, which upset me a lot, having missed saying goodbye to Will, and I pressed the buzzer for some assistance, and it was quite some time before any arrived, and it was the doctor and the nurse.

“I am sorry Jacob, but your foot was so badly infected, that we had to amputate it just above the ankle” the doctor informed me, and I screamed and started to cry, knowing that I would not be able to join the army or to climb any more mountains, as I was given a sedative, and I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke the next time, Uncle Nat was sitting beside my bed, and when he saw that I was awake, he smiled. “Hey kiddo, how are you feeling” he asked, and I started to cry again. Over the next few days I was either sleeping or crying, until I just had no more energy to cry any more. I was told that Uncle Nat has been visiting me for a few hours twice a day, and that he was getting very worried about me.

It had been a full week since being rescued, when I woke up in the morning, to find Mum sitting in a chair beside my bed, which surprised me a lot. “Hello Dear, I am here to look after you while you recover, do you want some water?” Mum said to me, and I just turned my face away from her and closed my eyes, as I fought back the tears.

It was nearly three weeks, before I was finally released from hospital, and I flew to Canada with Mum, a few days later, after having purchased a light weight wheel chair, to assist me to get around easily.Luckily the apartment building had an elevator, so we could reach the 2ndfloor, where the apartment is, and the wheel chair was only just narrow enough for me to squeeze through all the doorways.

Although it was good to be with my parents again, I was really struggling with having to cope with being in a wheelchair, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, now that I was partially disabled. During the day, I spent most of my time on my laptop computer, playing computer games, or researching a bit more about the region, as it is the middle of winter in Canada, and I was struggling a bit with the constant cold weather.

Two weekends later, Mum and Dad had the full weekend off, and they took me to Canada’s largest National Park, known as Wood Buffalo, with a flight to Hay River, where we stayed overnight, on Friday, before renting a vehicle, and driving for just over an hour to the National Park, and we spent some time driving through the National Park, till we arrived at Pine Lake, where we would be staying in a cabin overnight.

On the Sunday morning, we set off back to Hay River, and during the drive, Mum and Dad announced that they had arranged me to see a specialist, to try and have a prothesis foot made so that I could walk again. They said that Dad would be flying back to Yellowknife to continue work, while Mum and I would fly to Edmonton, to see the prothesis specialist doctor for an assessment.

By early afternoon, Mum and I had checked into a motel in Edmonton, and we had a look around the city, since it was both of our first times here, as my appointment wasn’t until 11am tomorrow morning. We checked out some of the museums and art galleries, and even did a little bit of shopping for me, for some suitable winter clothes. After dinner at a restaurant not far from the motel, we returned to our accommodation, and headed to bed early, since we would have a busy day tomorrow.

After a series of tests and a detailed examination of my amputated limb, which I mostly tried not to look at, we sat down in an office with a doctor, and a prosthesis technician to discuss my options, and we were shown a few examples of prosthetic feet, and we came up with a natural looking foot, that had a ball and socket join, that connects to a sleeve, that slides over the end of my amputation, and locks into place.

Over the next two days, I had fitting sessions, until we had the correct size, weight and looks that I wanted, which was a long and tiring process, costing a whopping $18,000 Canadian, which was a bit of a shock, but Mum didn’t even move, when we were told the total cost, including the fitting, and I was able to take my first steps at being able to walk properly again.

After a month of attending therapy sessions, and having some minor adjustments made to my new foot, plus regular sessions of walking on a treadmill, I decided that it was time to let my parents know what I planned to do with my life.

“Mum and Dad, I want to go back home please” I said to my parents and after a short period of silence, Dad responded, “If that is what you want son, we will let Nathan know that we are sending you home”, “No Dad, I mean home as in Marangu” I replied.

When I said this, I watched Mum and Dad as they looked at each other for a few moments, then faced me and smiled. “I think that is a wonderful idea, Dear, I am sure Afya would love to have her little Simba back to look after” Mum said, and I groaned on hearing this, which made my parents laugh.

A week later, I was at the Edmonton Airport saying goodbye to my parents, who had both flown with me from Yellow Knife, and with still with a year to go before my parents finish their contracts, I knew it would be that long before I see them again. Ahead of me, I had fourflights before I arrive in Kenya, firstly a 4-hour long flight to Montreal, on Canada’s East coast, where I have an 8-hour layover.

My parents had checked me into an airport hotel, so as to be able to get some sleep, before the next leg of the journey, which is a 6 ½ hour flight to Heathrow, London, where I only have enough time to walk to the next departure gate, to board my third flight to Nairobi, which is a 8 ½ hour flight, then I have a one hour flight to Kilimanjaro Airport.

The problem now with all of the flights is, that every time I passed through a security screening, it would set off an alarm, and each time I had to lean against the bench, life up my trouser leg, and disconnect my prosthetic foot, to show them the reason for it going off, which was not only embarrassing but also very annoying.

When I finally arrived at the Kilimanjaro Airport, I collected all of my luggage, a lot of which I had not seen since leaving Edmonton in Canada, but it was all there, which I was glad of, and after clearing Customs, I stepped out into the arrivals hall, where I found Nanny waiting for me, and standing next to her was her youngest son, Jabali, who I had not seen for a year, when I was last in Tanzania, and who is just three years older than me.

“Good to see you again, Brother” Jabali said to me in Swahili, “And you too” I replied also in Swahili. “You are old enough to call me just Afya now, and Jabali now shares one of the new cottages on the property with Keto, who is back with us full time as our gardener, as we have been very busy, having guests stay” my former nanny said to me, “Ok Just Afya it is then” I replied with a big smile, which made Jabali laugh, as he helped me with my luggage.

During the 2-hour journey home, I was informed that the Blackwood Guesthouse Bungalows, have become very popular with tourists, and that they are regularly booked out months in advance. Jabali helps his mother with preparing dinners and breakfasts for the guests, and they usually stay one night before joining a tour group to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and stay another night on their return.

Jabali and Keto share duties with driving the 22-seat coaster van, to collect guests from the airport, to bring them to their accommodation, which is another thing that my parents had not informed me of. At the peak season, Keto and Jabari work part time as porters for some of the treks up the mountain, to get some extra income.

When we arrived home, it was good to see the house again, and Afya informed me that I would be staying in the Master suite, as the other four bedrooms are used for backpacker guest accommodation, with two guests, twin share per room, and this news was quite a surprise to me.

I had been in the master suite only a few times, and it has a magnificent view of the countryside from the front patio of the private lounge, and the back patio off the bedroom, just has views of the nearby threes that surround the property, giving plenty of privacy, which I was pleased to have.

When I came back down to the first floor, where Afya was preparing dinner, I sat at the table and watched her, enjoying the smells of her cooking. “You have an appointment at a driving college in Arusha, for two days’ time, Jabari will drive you there each day for the two-week long course” Afya announced to me.

“Ok, I was wondering about that myself, on the trip here” I replied happily. “You parents have paid all of the fees required, and you also need to take an eye test with a government optician and get a police clearance certificate” Afya added.

Having turned 18 while I was in hospital in Hobart, I spent the next two weeks, as the only white man attending the college, I attended the daily classes, which were held in Swahili, and I ended up being top of the class when I graduated for the course and was issued my course certificate.

Having already completed the eye examination, and received my police clearance, I was ready to do the practical and theory tests, to get my driver’s license, and I was pleased when I passed both tests, with a score of 99%.