Medieval
stretching apparatus
Photoshopped™ photograph
©2024 Charlene Brown
On
September 27, I flew to Seattle (23 minutes on Alaska Airlines), cleared U.S.Customs
and proceeded to the Departures floor to check in for my flight to Madrid where I was to begin a two-week Art Gallery of Greater Victoria tour of Spain. Here is what happened instead.
In
the middle of the main concourse I turned slightly, but the thick treads on the
running shoes I was wearing (because they were too big to pack) grabbed the
polished floor and did not turn, even slightly. And I did a face plant over the
suitcase I was rolling.
An
agent from the nearby Delta desk cautioned me against trying to get up, called
911 and, most importantly, stayed with me (answering questions from the many
people milling about) until the paramedics arrived. An ambulance took me to St. Anne Hospital
where it was determined by several x-rays and a CAT scan that I didn’t have a concussion but did have a fractured
radius in my left arm.
An ER
doctor warned that for their next trick they would be using the Medieval
torture apparatus pictured on the left.
Soon I was strung up to five chain mail cylinders which grabbed and held
the fingers of my left hand, stretching my suspended (and weighted) arm
while the parts of the radius were prodded back in line. The pain was nowhere near what I was expectng
after that grizzly introduction. Apparently their bone-setting expertise includes
highly skilled management of expectations.
The
next day Alaska Airlines accepted my return ticket to Victoria (dated today, Octoner
16), and put me on the first available flight home.
