Rider Story: Deb Shiell I am riding to help raise funds for Riders for Health. I was in an accident this weekend, and I had to visit a health care center, something that is a luxury to rural villages in Africa. Please donate to Rider for Health. Every dollar helps and makes a difference. Wouldn’t you like to know that you supported Riders for Health, to make sure the ‘last mile’ is the most important mile in health care delivery. crowdrise/ridersforhealth/fundraiser/ditrygirls My Story: Last weekend I had Friday off from work. Still “reeling” from a head and body cold, I had the opportunity to do whatever I chose to do. I chose to train for the race this coming weekend. I say “train” in tongue and cheek, because I had a cough and was choosing to go “play.” As I drove to a location 47 miles away, on a cool foggy day, I passed restaurants, banks, fast food joints, cars and trucks driving to and fro, people waiting at bus stops, and taxis on their way to passenger drop offs. I stopped to put gas in my truck and motorcycle; I purchased a coke and energy bar; and I arrived at the farm to offload my motorcycle, excited to finally arrive at my destination. In my excitement I started to ride and practice balancing and stability. In a moment of poor judgment, I went to jump a very large log. I hit it at an angle and failed to cross successfully. When I crashed, the bike landed on my right leg - smashing my knee, calf, and shin. Tail between legs and in excruciating pain, I was escorted back to camp to sit by the fire with an ice pack. (note: Yes, I put myself into this position; however, I could have injured myself by falling off my truck or tripping and cracking my noggin open) Sitting by the fire, I took some ibuprofen, propped my leg up with ice, and listened to my friends look up the nearest health clinic on their phones. I called the urgent clinic which happened to be 6 miles away, and they had a trained nurse practitioner on site for radiology. “Come on in,” the receptionist stated over the phone. Two of my friends proceeded to escort me to the urgent clinic. I was examined by the on staff doctor. I had three different angle x-rays taken. Nothing broken! I was sent home with a prescription for extra strength ibuprofen and given the opportunity to have strong narcotics for the pain (which I declined) and portable ice packs. Headed back to camp with the knowledge that it’s gonna hurt, just soft tissue damage, I was able to continue riding the next day with the help from ibuprofen, ice, and good friends. I write this for one reason. To point out why I am riding the Starvation Ridge 24Hr Race in the Iron Woman class on Saturday. I am riding it to help raise funds for Riders for Health. Riders for Health provides logistics and support to deliver BASIC healthcare to villages in Africa. So here are the comparable ruts in my story in comparison to an African village – There are no “highways” with bustling buses, cars, taxis and trucks scooting people from one place to another. There are just roads sometimes 10-15 miles between each village and farther to a clinic with families walking to and fro when absolutely necessary. Consequently there are no gas stations with energy bars, aspirin, ibuprofen, sodas to just pop into and grab what you need so you feel better to go play. You don’t just grab an icepack in Africa, you don’t have ibuprofen laying around by the bottles and certainly don’t have the time or “money” to just sit with your leg propped in the air. You don’t just look up the nearest “most convenient” clinic to get looked at just because it hurts like hell. You wipe off the dust and if you can still walk you continue on. Unlike me, within 1.5 hours from the injury I had been checked out, thumbs up bill of health, medication already working and drinking a beer by the fire. Icing and propped up for the rest of the evening. If in Africa, you would walk on, bruised and possibly broken to continue working the farm or the hut or the village. The simplest of things that could happen easily from this type of injury is Compartmental Swelling, where the loss of circulation, limb and possibly death is feasible. I have the least of this worry because I have access to ibuprofen, ice, compression bandages and socks, and can literally drive less than 2 miles in any given radius to a clinic or hospital. Or if it is really bad, I get on the phone and call 911 where within minutes I have trained professionals escorting me to the nearest hospital. Yes, Africa is different, however what shouldn’t be so different is the availability of basic healthcare. A simple and scheduled check up by a trained professional, the most basic vaccinations, training on basic health and wellness are just some of the examples. Please donate to this website, every dollar helps and makes a difference. Wouldn’t you like to know that you supported Riders for Health, to make sure the ‘last mile’ is the most important mile in health care delivery. crowdrise/ridersforhealth/fundraiser/ditrygirls
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 20:55:01 +0000
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