Shit Happens

"When something goes wrong in your life, just yell, 'plot twist!' and move on."

 

Hi everyone, I know it’s been a while since I last blogged, but it has been a crazy week. I’m finally getting around to putting everything into words. My mom came to spend Christmas and New Years with me. We spent five days in Togo and then headed down to South Africa for a safari tour. Having my mom in Togo for Christmas was amazing! I loved showing her around my town and introducing her to all my Togolese friends.

 On December 28^th we joined up with a tour in South Africa and on the 29^th headed for Kruger National Park to see giraffes, lions, water buffalo and all the rest the park has to offer. We were with a great group of people from all over the world: USA, England, Switzerland, Australia and Norway. Unfortunately, about 1.5 hours away from the park we got into a terrible car accident.


It was a gray, rainy day. We were approaching a sharp curve in the road and our driver was going too fast for the slippery conditions. He braked hard to slow down, but the bus slid sideways, broke through the guard rail, and rolled down a steep hill about three times. It was one of the most terrifying days of my life, and something that will stay with all of us forever. We had just gotten back on the bus from a bathroom break and many of us had not fastened seat belts yet, so we got tossed around the bus with every roll, over and over. I don’t remember the rolling because I hit my head right away. I just remember waking up in a pile of people at the bottom and feeling horrible pain all over my body. I tried to move, but it was just too difficult. My mom was hanging by her seat belt above me and she unbuckled, jumped down, and got me to crawl out of an opening in the roof. It was sheer chaos, with crying, screaming, bleeding, and two people were pinned under the bus….an absolute nightmare. It took about 30 minutes for the police to arrive, and an hour for the first ambulances to arrive.

At the hospital everyone was treated and several were admitted. I spent four days there, ending up in a neck brace because of sprained/torn ligaments in my cervical spine. Mom suffered a black eye, small eyebrow laceration, and sprained thumb. There were many more serious injuries, and everyone was bumped up and bruised. We lost our phone in the crash, which made calling home difficult. The camera with all the pics of our Togo adventures was also lost, so disappointing, but we didn’t lose our lives.

The week following the accident was not the adventure we had planned, but like everything else in life, there are some good things that come from bad. A group of people who barely knew each other became supportive friends. I was reminded of the importance of things like travel insurance, seat belts, zippers on bags, and moms. The town of Nelspruit was beautiful, much like Seattle’s rainy green, only with palm trees. I would love to see more of South Africa someday, I’ll be back.

 I can’t forget to mention how AMAZING the Peace Corps has been, both here in South Africa and in Togo: providing us rides, medical care, lodging, helping my mom with her travel arrangements, and just being there for us in every way possible.

 

We are ending our vacation with a little R&R in beautiful Pretoria before heading home for my medical leave. I’m hoping to make a quick recovery and get back to Kpalime as soon as I can.

Bed & Breakfast in Pretoria