Hymn of praise to the Danish Health Service


This blog for once is not about sailing. It's about the amazing Danish Health service. Why do we know this?

Because we got chance to sample it over the last 30 hours.

We were approaching Rodvig yesterday after an easy crossing with some sweet beam- reach sailing when Nic stepped off the bow towards the quayside as we moored in a box berth. Somehow he slipped and hit the dock very hard and fell into the water. 

His lifejacket inflated but he was in a lot of pain and it took a long time to get him out of the water, and dragged up a ladder at the end of the dock by strong German sailors. The ambulance roared up soon after and took us the 30 minute drive to Koge hospital where Nic was treated like visiting royalty. 

After x-rays and a CT scan, the news came that he had mashed his shoulder blade into various pieces and broken four ribs. They considered surgery but decided not to take that route. But they kept him in for observation overnight in case of a pneumothorax ..or collapsed lung. They even let me sleep in a bed in his sparkling clean private room.

Those are the facts. But they dont reveal the generosity and kindness of the Danish  staff from the burly and thoughtful ambulance guys to the smiley nurses and X-ray staff who put Nic's scans on a CD so we can take them home.

Now we are in a very basic hotel about 25 mins walk from the boat. We are here until Saturday. Nic is in a sling and taking v strong painkillers. He can't use his right arm so we can't even sleep on the boat as getting on and off is impossible. We are hoping to get flights home this weekend.

So this will be the last blog for a while. I will move the boat to a part of the marina where she can rest for a couple of months while Nic recovers from his injuries. 

It could have been a whole lot worse.. He could have hit his head. And if ever you need a reason to wear your lifejacket at all times, think of Nic. I don't think he could have stayed afloat with those fractures otherwise. It was a terrible thing to watch him falling in but thank God the result was no worse.




Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2

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