Over tired, but excited, the kids were horsing around as we walked toward the Taj Mahal for our sunrise tour. William was hopping from concrete piling to concrete piling, in flip flops, a skill he’s been perfecting throughout the trip. He slipped; hit his head, hard, into the edge of the next piling; and it was not good. Screaming and lots of blood.
Our amazing guide and driver got us to the nearby hospital so quickly. We hesitated, for a moment, to go in and, once inside, hesitated again to let them treat him. No one spoke English and it looked nothing like any medical facility you’ve ever seen. Dark and dirty. rusted gurney. But there was blood everywhere and there was no way we could wait to hear from the Embassy to make sure it was okay. When they began to clean the wound, even I could tell he needed lots of stitches. Finally, a doctor who could speak English came into the room and took over. Relieved and terrified at the same time, I lost it and, in response, he did exactly the right thing: gruffly ordered me out of the room. I stood there just hugging the girls while B called our emergency medical service.
William was so brave. No painkillers or local anesthetic. We could hear from outside the room how much it hurt. Finally they let us back in. We showed him the photo of the baby tiger cub Phoebe asked us to show him to cheer him up and he smiled.
We are so grateful to Lokendra our driver for getting us to the hospital and now safely back to Delhi to see a doctor recommended to us there; so grateful to the people at the Agra hospital who took care of William, esp the gruff doctor; so grateful to the girls who were terrified but also so brave saying prayers and sending good thoughts to their brother while we listened to him get his stitches; so so grateful for tetanus shots; and so grateful to William for being an amazing trooper through it all.
We’re very blessed
So glad for the fine outcome. All please follow are care.
Sent from my iPad Terry Mannion
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Oh my God, how scary! Having had emergency treatment in sketchy-looking overseas places, I sure can empathize. Good, brave boy, Will, and NO more hopping about, please!!
Good morning to all the O’Briens, I hope your travels continue to be so unbelievably enlightening. I am checking on William and his wound status. Hope that he is improving. I also pray that you parents are also recovering – that can be the most difficult. Love, Aunt Jane
Sent from my iPad
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Hes doing great! It was quite a scare but we were very lucky. He’ll miss some surf days in Goa, our next stop. But he’ll be like new in a weak or so. His bandage looks a bit like a turban so he fits right in. Thanks Aunt Jane!