Singapore Sling

Oops

After a couple of days in the wonderfully sterile city of Singapore we were itching for a change of scenery.  With cranes busy in nearly every corner of the city we fancied something altogether more rural, more ‘Malaysian’.  We’d heard about an island called Pulau Ubin from the ‘Yes Man’ book by Danny Wallace.  He described it as a tiny Island with hardly anything on it where you can hire bicycles and cycle at your leisure.  Great we thought, and headed straight there.

About an hours bus ride and 20 minute bumboat ride from Singapore, it’s quite a trek to get there, but it’s worth it. The island is beautiful and very quiet.  In order to see it you have two choices; you can either cycle or hike. We went for the two wheel option thinking it would be much more enjoyable, how wrong we were.

After hiring bikes for a mere £3 we set off on our journey (no helmets included of course!).  Cycling for miles we bumped into hardly anybody, sometimes we would pass a heavily armed soldier on patrol or a lizard sliding its way along the road, but that would be it.  We had a great day, we lapped up the scenery as memories of the childlike joy of cycling flooded back.  Why had we not cycled in so long?!

As the hour passed 4pm we decided to return to the pier. I thought we should make one last video so I stayed back at the top of a tarmac hill.  From here I could film the boys as they rode ahead of me.  Once they had shot off down the hill and round the corner I set off, hurtling down the hill, camera in hand. I began to pick up speed incredibly quickly, the road was flashing past at a terrific speed. Suddenly, terrified I panicked and squeezed the breaks in my left hand, the only hand I had free.  Little did I know, these were the front breaks.

The next thing I remember is lying face down in the middle of the road, streaming with blood.  I had no idea where the blood was coming from, and was completely in shock.  I had gone straight over the handle bars.  Luckily for me, a local was cycling in the opposite direction and saw what happened, he rushed straight down to hill to get Olly who returned as fast as he could.  Olly was fantastic, running up to me, he looked me straight in the eye and told me everything was going to be OK.  I couldn’t quite comprehend what had happened and shaking I became terrified. I had a large bump forming on the back of my head and blood would not stop gushing from my face, turning my white top a dark shade of red.

At just that moment the army drove past, an absolute coincidence, but one that saved my day.  Olly flagged them down and they bundled us into the back of the truck and took us to the Island volunteer centre.  Here, a woman came running to meet us, she sat me in the middle of a playground, did all the emergency checks and patched me up well enough to get me back to the mainland.  It emerged that I had ripped my chin open and would need to go to A&E to get it checked out.

I was quite a state, shivering, crying and covered in blood. We boarded the boat and after a painful 25 minute ride we jumped straight in a taxi to the hospital.  I was seen at Changi General Hospital and I have to say it is the best medical service I have ever experienced.  I was put straight into a wheel chair and covered in blankets.  Olly was issued with a face mask that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with and whisked off to the payment station. After an initial assessment I was sent for arm x-rays and stitches in my chin. After Olly had returned from the ‘accountants’ he wheeled me round to wait for the operating theatre.  We were situated right outside the ambulance entrance, so for the next hour we had front row seats while case after case of emergency victims were rushed in. It wasn’t the best place to wait in terms of nerves, but at least it showed me things could have been a lot worse.  Then I was called in.

I would have to say it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I was lying in a freezing cold operating theatre, having had six needles in my chin to numb it, followed by six stitches artfully sewn by no less than three medical staff (I think someone was being trained up!). I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It definitely wasn’t the way I’d planned to spend my evening!

After the stitches it was confirmed that I had fractured my radial head (bone at the top of my lower arm) and I was sent to be put in plaster.  What a day!

It is certainly an experience I wouldn’t want to go through again, but the medical care I received in Singapore, and am now receiving in Australia, has been absolutely fantastic. The whole trip to A&E, including all medication, stitches and x-rays cost just £32, and all medical care in Aus I’ve had so far has been free!

Obviously the accident has impacted my blog writing somewhat so we’re now a couple of weeks behind schedule.  However I’m pleased to report that my chin is healing nicely, and I’m beginning to use my arm again.  I will have a scar and I’m still sporting a fashionable sling, but it will be a good story to tell everyone when I get back!  Olly has been a star carrying all my bags for me, though he thinks he’s shrinking under all the weight.  It has been a pain not being able to join in with the activities like swimming, snorkeling etc that the boys have done, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make up for that later on in the trip.

An accident abroad is never something that you plan for, but in my case, as horrendous as has been, I have had lots of fun getting over it.  Though I will live with the scars forever I’ve found everyone I’ve met to be extremely helpful.  Thank God it didn’t happen in Thailand!