breaking waves and a broken bone

Yesterday’s report:
We awoke early to an overcast day, no wind, glassy water with REALLY BIG waves peeling in. It was a beautiful sight. We opened the shop doors and swept, Ama smudged the shop and restaurant with incense, then we sat watching the waves, sipping tea. I skipped my yoga session and slathered on some suncream. After some bread and spicy dahl curry we headed out into the surf. We were out for about 3 hours, Leo at the main point, me at the beach break. I was still out when a Sri Lankan friend of ours, Gamini, started whistling from shore and motioning to me to come in. I made my way back in and as soon as I got to the beach he said, “Give me your board and run. It’s Leo. You need to run.”

It was his shoulder. Lots of pain. Thought he either broke something or dislocated his shoulder. Friends started making calls on their mobile phones. In minutes a van pulled up and drove us to Galle. Like a bat ‘outta hell, as the saying goes. 30 minutes later, we arrived at a hospital, got an x-ray. The ER doctor was at lunch….so, we sat outside waiting, x-ray in hand. 

Remember Big Daddy from Colombo? Our neighbor, tuktuk driver, van driver? So….we’re sitting outside the hospital, and Big Daddy’s daughter and her husband drive by (they own a shop in Galle). I recognized them and waved them down. We jumped in their car, drove to another hospital down the road where Leo was able to be seen by a doctor after only a short wait.

“You’ve broken your collar bone!” exclaimed a smiling Dr. Kumara. “The good news is, there is no additional pain for me to put you through. Your bone will take time to mend but it will do so naturally. You just need to rest. 3 weeks and you’ll be able to move it around a bit. 6 weeks and it will be healed.”

How it happened: Leo caught a big steep wave (actually he caught quite a few big waves yesterday and had some amazing rides….I could see them from where I was). That last wave began to close out (crash down all of a sudden). The force of the water knocked Leo down, he landed on his shoulder on his board. I keep thinking that the board probably saved him from being ground into the reef/rocks underneath. He then rode a few waves in on his belly and carried his board to shore. Rather amazing that he made it in with a broken collarbone and a 9 foot surf board, I have to say.

Although he is extremely stoic, I know he is in pain. He is being very positive. Good energy creates more good energy. He has pain medicine and I’m playing nurse. The hardest thing so far is finding comfortable positions for laying down. I pray for his body to do its thing to heal the bone, and for us to foster that healing.

I’m thankful that it’s a broken bone that can be healed. I’m thankful for the community we have around us here, full of attentive positive friendship energy.

Healing vibes~
I’ll keep you posted…