December 12, 2021
Day 18: Merida
I think I can call this a new day, since it's after 1 a.m. as I am beginning to tell this story. Thanks to those who have expressed kind wishes for Dodie, I won't try to acknowledge each individually, but keep those cards and letters coming so I have something to read to her!
We started out from Celestun at 4 a.m. so we could cycle in the dark and then the cool for as long as possible. We hatched this plan when we realized we could avoid going back to Uman before heading south to our goal of Uxmal, by cutting out diagonally south on back roads. Only thing, this way, there were no hotels until Uxmal, a run of over 120 km. So we decided to leave early and just go for it.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siproeta_stelenes
2 years ago
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrosema_virginianum
2 years ago
We made good progress, and were having our usual kind of fun. For example, in Maxcanu a veritable flood of moto taxis kept coming our way from the centre, so we followed them back and found a moderately busy market day going on. But most interesting were those motorized or on bike religious pilgrims. We can't figure out their deal! We joined their parade leaving town, but with the language barrier, failed to learn what we were parading for.
We parted company at Muna, where they turned north toward Merida, while we continued south, toward Uxmal. For some kilometers prior to this we had run into the famed Puuc hills, which are relatively low, but a big deal in flat Yucatan. The road to this point had been cut into the hill side, making it still level. But the turn at Muna put us into an up and over situation.
The climb was long and slow, but some notable altitude must have been attained, because we began to pick up a lot of speed on the back side. Dodie is famous for wearing out brakes, because she hates going fast. That made it a little unusual that I was following her at about 40 kph. We'll never know why this was, because now she remembers nothing since the leaving of Celestun.
I recall thinking "Good thing this bike is really smooth, because this is a little fast for fully loaded". That's when Dodie's bike developed a wobble. In short order I think her wheel turned radically to the side, probably as she tried to compensate. But I would guess the wheel found itself going down at right angles to the direction of fall, and in a split second everything went flying. Dodie hit the pavement hard, and all handlebar bag contents were evenly spread over the highway.
I was able to stop before piling into the crash scene, but not without ditching my bike, though in a controlled ditching.
We now have a repetition of something that happened in Florida, when we were both taken down by a truck. I ran up to Dodie, this time to find her unconscious and blood gushing from her head. I tried to determine if she was alive or dead, but could get no response. At least in Florida when I was screaming at her "You have to get out of the road", she could say "Don't try to move me".
The first car to stop was a local (Merida) tour guide and two tourists from Paris. They were wonderful. They found a blanket or towel for shade and held it up, called 911, and began to gather our things from the road.
In short order we also had about six police, and soon an "ambulance" came. Now in this rather remote region they do not actually have an ambulance, so this was a medical transport van. On the van , though, was a paramedic who did an excellent job in the circumstances. Dodie had revived enough to be continuously yelping ow, ow. I think after checking for allergy, the paramedic gave a shot of pain killer. But it looked like a broken/dislocated shoulder, and that is intensely painful if moved.
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2 years ago
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This happened in the full mid day sun, so other than kissing her and trying to get a response, I was taking care to shade her with my body.
Not fully understanding the limitations of the van, I was surprised that there was no stretcher, body board, or even blanket, which could be used to lift a victim off the ground. We did have a pile of police and others now, and maybe could have coordinated a lift. But that would be no use, because there was no place to lie down in the van.
As for a real ambulance, it would have to come from Merida, over an hour away, and besides they were not answering the phone. The paramedic began to insist that the only way was for Dodie to rise up and sit in a van seat. Amazingly, after maybe only an hour on the pavement, with a lot of help, she did just that!
I had asked the police to take our bikes and gear to the hotel we had reserved in Uxmal, but the guide and Parisians and I realized that by folding the bikes they could be stashed in the back of the van. We did that, and just one hour after the crash (I just confirmed that from the time stamps on my photos) we were on our way to hospital.
Ok, not quite. The van did not have enough gas to get to Merida! For some reason the solution for this was to return to medical van headquarters in Muna, and swap for a van that had more gas. This required Dodie to descend and reascend into an identical van. There was a lot of pain in that, and fewer helpers.
For years prior and days prior we have been cursing and also debating the speed bumps that Mexico liberally sprinkles it highways with. No doubt this slows some speeders, but it also jostles or can throw cyclists. Now in this case, each bump moved Dodie's arm. The van was also an old gearshift model, which is inherently jerky.
As much as two hours later, if I read the timestamps correctly, we pulled into a hospital in Merida. As is common in less developed countries, there are different standards of care according to ecolnomic class, and hospitals can be hot, dirty, and crowded. But at our hospital the standards actually exceeded, even far exceeded, what we might expect in Canada.
Doctors and nurses appeared almost immediately, and in fairly good English, made explanations and guided us closely. Dodie was whisked into a trauma room, and got continuous attention from a doctor and two nurses. Soon she was taken to xray and eeg, and soon again the doctor was back with the pictures and results. The brain looked ok and the arm (not shoulder) was broken. In short order again, the orthopedic surgeon appeared, and explained about the arm and the needed treatment - which would not include surgery!
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2 years ago
But wait, what about our gear, bikes, money, passports out in the van? Somewhere in this, the driver and I went looking for a hotel. Being from the sticks, I guess, he first chose a one star place, that in any event only had an upstairs room. Off we went again, and he brought me to a two star place that had a downstairs room. 500 pesos - cash in advance? Deal! Only thing, I had no money. I had left it with Dodie in her wallet. Senior cycle executives like me don't deal with mundane details like money, bookings, passports, or much of anything, I guess! They may not even know precisely where in our gear these things lurk. But, I convinced the hotel man to sit on our bikes and gear, which the driver and I stuffed in the room, as collateral.
Time to say goodbye to the driver. We had had all those paramedic services and a two hour van ride. Ten minutes on a taxi out of Cancun airport can cost $50. So now what? So no charge, the driver had me understand. The kindness of the people here is phenomenal!
I walked back to the hospital, where the doctor was stitching Dodie's head back together. Now with IV pain killer, with saline, and with antibiotic, Dodie was ushered to a cool, spotless, private room. Our nurses came along, to supervise the transfer from gurney to bed, show me how to use the AC, discuss the router login code, introduce us to the floor staff, and so forth. Amazing, and I don't think the cost will exceed what a Canadian hospital extracts from a walk in foreign national.
And Dodie, now at 3 a.m. sleeping soundly. She needs to build up her strength, because I already told her we'll walk not taxi to our two star digs in the morning!
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Sue and Jim
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Take care, Dave and Anne
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I wish for you, Dodie, to recover quickly and fully. My heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry this happened.
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