Sometimes You Get Lucky

Good morning! I was going to write a post a couple of days ago talking about my progress on various projects – and I got sidetracked.

A friend of mine arrived at 5:30 am and demanded painkillers. Usually visitors at that hour just want coffee so this was a little unusual, but not unheard of. Fishermen seem to constantly injure themselves so I’m getting used to sharing the contents of my giant bottle of Ibuprofen. Unfortunately this wasn’t going to be so easy to fix.

He had severe pain in his shoulder, down his arm (which he couldn’t lift), and his hand was both numb and 3 times its normal size. I needed to get him to a Doctor.

There were a few barriers to what should have been a straight-forward excursion. The ferry stopped running on the last day of May and would be docked for maintenance until the middle of June.

My friend refuses to go through Maine – in fact he hasn’t been over the bridge since March 9, 2020. (Don’t get me started on the amount of stubborn on this Island. It must be in the water.)

I was about to call for an ambulance which would get him to St. Stephen although I didn’t know how I’d get him back. I decided to tackle one problem at a time. 🙂 However, before I could phone them it went by towards Wilsons Beach on another call and I knew it might be hours before they could deal with him.

Then fate intervened. We saw the ferry offshore by Cherry Point – it was heading to the landing on the other side of the Island.

We phoned one of the crew members who explained it was a private charter. We, in turn, described the medical urgency of his situation and they agreed to take us back with them to Deer Island. 9 hours later we boarded on their return trip and they brought us home. I expressed my profound gratitude to the ferry crew and my friend promised them a bottle of brandy.

In the intervening period I drove him to the hospital and waited while they did 10 x-rays and an EKG. The diagnosis was a pinched nerve – painful but not life-threatening.

While I sympathized with his severe discomfort (and the fear of potential heart problems) I have to say that a pinched nerve has a lot in common with the man-flu. Some of you will understand that reference. It was a long day. 🙂