A Weekend of Many Thanks

Before we left for India, one of the guys going (Dinesh) had a friend who was giving him and his friends a houseboat ride as a congrats for getting into residency. That was this weekend! And what an adventure it was! So Thursday night, after we were done with work, all 7 UTHSCSA people plus 2 Oklahoma people departed Vellore for Alleppey in the southern province of Kerala. Now, it is not advised to travel in India at night. That being said, our options were slim as far as tranportation, so away we went, and we had many a near miss that night. We arrived safely after a long and very uncomfortable ride on Friday afternoon, after watching many a movie including a Bollywood hit Jab We Met (definitely a must see), to get on a beautiful 3-bedroom houseboat. Now words do not do this adventure justice! Kerala is beautiful and this was the most relaxing event I have done in India. Manish, Dinesh's generous friend, met us on the dock, and we boarded, not knowing how wonderful the weekend was about to be. As we sailed out, the staff prepared coconut water and beer as well as some fruits for us. We stopped at a few port stops to pick up dinner, but mainly cruised along, enjoying the locals and tourists both that we passed.

As dusk came, we talked and took pictures and drank a few beers. An hour or so later we had a delicious (yet very spicy) meal, including delicious seafood! Due to not sleeping so well the night before on the van, it was an early night for most. We awoke to a delicious breakfast of omelettes, toast and fresh fruit, and then we packed up for a day on shore and night in Manish's house in Alleppey. We toured an old palace and another temple where the hugging Amma resides (note: there are multiple Ammas all over this country, each with their own set of followers) and saw a beach facing the Arabian Sea (I think). We returned to the house for dinner, also deliciously prepared.

The next morning we awoke for Aruveydic massages, which was quite an experience that I won't go into too much detail here. Unfortunately this took a little longer than expected and we departed Kerala later than anticipated. Thanking the housestaff profusely for their hospitality, we left Alleppey at 4pm for what was a 15-hour drive coming down. Unfortunately, this trip was not as successful--remember how I have talked about how bad the driving is... At around 3:30 in the morning, many of us were restless, and the driver stopped temporarily for coffee and a bathroom break (which in India means peeing in a bush as toilets are a luxury not to be found on a roadtrip!). We all noted how we were having trouble sleeping, but apparently that was not the case. Two hours later, we had quite an abrupt awakening!

All of a sudden, I heard Dinesh yelling at Chris to wake up, that his pupils are blown (which, for the nonmedical types, is not a good sign). I opened my eyes realizing I could not breathe. What I did not realize at this time is that our driver (who had most likely fallen asleep) ran into a hauling truck, which are large and do not move too fast. He hit the truck on the passenger's side (Left side here in India) which Cristina was sitting right behind. Chris, who had been sitting behind Cristina, had slid out of his seat and was unconscious. I do not remember most of what happened initially, and remember only Dinesh yelling at Chris to wake up and me not being able to breathe (I was hyperventilating and apparently delirious I learned later). I quickly tried to make it to the back of the van to get out, where one of the OU students Swamy mentioned that he could not see. This statement knocked me into reality and out of shock (which I think I was in) and I was able to help. I went back to Dinesh to find my shoes and hold Chris's neck stable (he had responded and was slowly making more sense) so Dinesh could go talk to Swamy.

Unfortunately, India does not work like the US in terms of EMS and getting an ambulance took entirely too long. Onlookers were only that--looking on. Thankfully, everyone was okay and stable at this point, although we were still worried about Cristina, who received a very forceful blunt chest trauma, Chris, who had been unconsious and had a laceration in his chin, and Swamy, who potentially had a broken leg and lost his vision. Everyone else, although covered with bruises and abrasions was stable. The ambulance finally came and all 9 of us loaded in the ambulance (EMTs are not trained at all and they did not even have C-collars to stabilze necks--they handed us towels!). We requested to go the 80km to Vellore to go to the CMC, as that is the best hospital in the region and where we were rotating.

We finally arrived at 7:30 (accident happened at 5:30) to absolutely no preparation. Here we got a unique experience amongst the CMC visiting students: Indian health care first hand. No one would see us (Cristina, Chris, and Swamy were the patients) until they had registered and paid. Upon finally registering them, they would not do any x-rays or blood work until we presented a receipt! And they don't give you the order to pay for them together--you pay as you need them, one by one. Seeing the care we got in the ambulance and the response available in Vellore, we were thankful no one was critical or bleeding out! During that day, I stayed with Cristina and went with her to x-rays and an echo (with the receipt in my hand!). Fortunately everything cleared for all 3 of them, and all 9 (10 with the driver) walked away from what could have been a very tragic accident.

I come out of this weekend very thankful for many reasons. First, we had a wonderful weekend of generosity and hospitality by Manish and the housestaff in Alleppey. They completely catered to everyone, making sure we felt at home and had everything we needed. It was an incredibly amazing weekend, and as soon as I upload pictures, you will understand the beauty of Kerala; unfortunately, you will have to take my word on how wonderful the food was! Second, we are incredibly thankful that we are all safe and well. Although today everyone is incredibly sore, we are all able to continue on. Thankfully, when the accident happened everyone was asleep and therefore as relaxed as could be; thankfully the van did not drive head on into the truck; thankfully, we were not going any faster as there was not much more room between Cristina and the truck; thankfully, no one was in the passenger seat. Finally, I am thankful that we have our health care system. Although here, they are incredibly intelligent and I have learned a lot, in the event of a critical trauma, no one would have survived here. No onlooker decided to call an ambulance until someone made them. No EMS was trained for acute care. And for a county hospital, we treat first and ask for money later (I think...). Basically, I walk away thankful for a wonderful weekend in Kerala and a blessed accident where we all eventually walked away (even if Swamy started on a stretcher!). My advice to all the future studetnts: don't travel at night EVER!

I will add pictures later I promise! To see the van post-accident, go to Jami's blog. We are lucky...