Popped my achilles tendon while playing a game of cricket in Gangtok. Oz vs India - very competitive & controversial. I whacked the ball, snap went my achilles like a rubber band. It felt like I had broken a heel off my shoe & my foot was flopping about. The great thing is that I still managed to score a run…by hopping on my good leg to the other wicket…then the pain overrode the adrenalin.
I can’t recommend crutches in India, & especially not Gangtok. Do you know how many stairs, hills & holes there are. And try going to a squat toilet with a plaster cast on one leg….just try it!! All I can comment is…. wet trousers. And don’t slip & break the other leg.
Have managed to clamber in & out of bicycle rickshaws, & be carried up multiple flights of stairs. I actually hopped on one leg (is that a pleonasm?) up the steps onto my Jet Airways flight to Delhi. Quite disturbingly during the flight I thought my leg was going to explode due to a tight plaster cast.
Folks in India appear to be immune to disability…after all everywhere you look there’s someone with a disability. Not too much sympathy given out here. Unlike home where everyone opens the door & carries the bag of the crutches cripple….in India people seem to prefer to stare in wonder!
Next stop, Delhi for surgery. Five star hospital & specialist surgeon. There’s worse things in life than 5 days in a comfy bed, 7 meals a day & internet on tap. Despite the leg looking like it belongs to the bride of Frankenstein I’m in high spirits & looking forward to rehab back in Gangtok & getting back to the task of helping the street dogs.
