My wife had a traffic accident because she left work late, it was early in the morning. When I received the call from her, I could hear in her voice how disoriented she was, my heart stopped for a moment.
As best I could, I managed to start our vehicle that had been presenting electrical failures, and I went to the hospital where she would be taken. I was in shock when she came out of the ambulance, with her belongings full of blood and her head wrapped in a bandage.
Inside me I felt panic and rage, however I was able to control myself and I realized that at that moment there were many emergencies in the hospital of Guarenas, many wounded with bullets and additionally many doctors and nurses were complaining about the lack of medical and surgical material.
I would talk to my wife and when she would answer me she would repeat her words over and over again, and she would talk to me about her work, and the activities we had done together months ago, then she would come back to normal and ask me what had happened to her.
I immediately focused on protecting her and making sure she got the medical attention she needed, and I took her cell phone and contacted many people unknown to me who were co-workers at her job to get more information. I spoke to her boss to express my concern and to push for her to be seen at a private clinic where she could receive the best possible care.
Initially, I was unable to get help, and I spoke to the paramedics who were attending her in the ambulance and took her to a military hospital in the capital city at the suggestion of a niece who was a politician.
I gave the order to the public paramedics and they told me that there were many emergencies to attend, I had to offer them some money to transfer her.
There, they operated on her, she had polytrauma to the skull and had short term memory loss.
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What happened was that it was a Friday, the end of the month and they had to take out some emergency pay orders at my wife's work, so she and another group stayed there to work and left at approximately 12 o'clock at night. She was given money to take a cab, got in and started the trip home.
It was raining very hard and the driver was speeding on the highway, overturning the vehicle right in front of a gas station, where by chance there was an ambulance belonging to the government.
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I thank God that they were able to attend her in that hospital, after my political niece called one of their directors, but they did a horrible surgery on her forehead, and she was evaluated and discharged two days later. However, she was bruised all over and still could not coordinate her movements.
I called her boss again, explained the situation and demanded that she be transferred to another health care center, this time a private one, and told her that the responsibility fell directly on her since she was the one who had given the order to stay so late.
Approximately half an hour after my call, an ambulance arrived and transferred her to a private clinic where again she underwent cosmetic surgery and was diagnosed with a therapy to gradually recover her short range memory.
Fortunately, my wife survived the accident, but her recovery was long and difficult. Being by her side every step of the way made me realize the importance of being present and supportive of our loved ones during difficult times.
At all times, I had the support of my relatives and my wife's relatives, they helped me to take care of her, and in the meantime I had to move for a while with her and my daughter to my mother's and aunts' house, since all the therapies had to be done in Clinics that were far away from home in the city of Caracas, (approximately 45 minutes away from the city where we live: Guarenas).
At that time I was working as an administrator in a company that sold laser medical equipment, and my boss was not empathetic with me, he did not want to give me days off to attend my wife who needed me so much, so I made a decision that I will not regret: I resigned from the company and in a short period of time I got a better job with more pay.
The effort I made to protect my wife was worth it, as her recovery was successful and we can now move forward together. This episode taught me the importance of being prepared for any eventuality and not to hesitate to seek the best care for our loved ones. Also, let me tell you that no job is worth exposing your life to.
My wife's car accident was a difficult and frightening time, but thanks to my determination and effort we managed to get through it together. I now appreciate even more the importance of protecting the ones we love and always being ready to act in case of an emergency. The safety and well-being of our loved ones should always be a priority!
This is my third participation this week, and it is related to the following topic:
To Protect A Loved One: We all have people we love around us, and many times we find ourselves going to great lengths to protect them. How far have we gone? Tell us about the one time we went great lengths to protect or provide for a loved one, how did it turn out?
Thanks for stopping by. Happy Weekend.
The first image is a collage made by me with the graphic design program Canva. The photographs are my own and were taken with a Kodak camera 24 years ago, and with my cell phone Iphone 4 three years ago.