The X-Ray Files
by
Gary L. Clark
Reprint from the 1990 Spring/Summer Roundup
"Help,"
Don yelled as he began his 50-foot drop off a dome in Mexico.
Last November, Don Garrison, Monolithic Plant Manager, and I were in Manzanillo,
Mexico, repairing an Airform. Don had tied himself to the dome's top with
a climbing harness, so he could move up and down and across the surface.
After several hours of being a human elevator, Don's hands cramped - involuntarily
forming a fist. His harness should have caught him, but the safety device
slipped. Then the end knot-tied to stop a fall-released and Don's free-fall
began. He landed feet first on the concrete footing, then fell backwards
into the gravel pad.
I heard someone yell at me, "Hey, your guy just fell off the dome!" It
was Don. We had a serious problem. No one was laughing, yet from this
point on the serious plight resembled a "Keystone Kops" scenario.
We made a crude stretcher from a four-by-eight sheet of plywood. We put
Don on it and waited for the ambulance - a 1970 Dodge cargo van. We maneuvered
Don to another stretcher and tied it down with bungie cords to keep it
from rolling around inside the van. I asked if I could accompany Don to
the hospital. No problem, in fact , two other people were needed to help
unload Don from the van because the driver had an injured leg and hand.
When we got there, the ambulance driver asked us - two scared Americans-if
we knew where the emergency entrance was!
We didn't, but we found it and got Don to the only doctor on duty. After
the preliminary evaluation, x-rays were needed so we wheeled Don to the
x-ray technician who just happened to be the same doctor. I reassured
Don as he lay on a cold, hard table. Finally the diagnosis: both ankles
broken and back injured. Another wait began-this time for the specialist.
There we sat, two grown men watching a cartoon, in Spanish, with no subtitles.
The worst part for Don was the disastrous plot. About every 2 minutes
someone would fall from a rope or off a building or out of an airplane.
As this happened, I laughed and groaned, "Oh No - Not again!!" Don's groan
followed, "I don't believe it."
Finally, Don got settled into a room with an extra bed that I quickly
claimed for myself. At about 2:00 a.m. I was stirred to consciousness
by the presence of another person in the room. A nurse was trying to sleep
in a folding chair against the wall. The next morning, I learned that
bed was meant for the nighttime nurse assigned to Don.
That evening, I was invited to sleep in the visitors' area which was under
cover, yet outside. Every mosquito in Manzanillo came to visit me. It's
a good thing I was in a hospital. I almost needed a transfusion. I now
understood why the nurse spent the night in a chair rather than brave
the threat of the flying blood suckers.
Since the nurse's presence was constant and Don had to stay in bed, he
had to be creative in his attempts to maintain any dignity regarding privacy
matters. I became his sentinel so he could take care of business. At first
this was embarrassing for him, but after two days it became quite comical.
Another two days went by ever so slowly, but we finally received medical
clearance to return home to Texas.
During the five-hour flight to Dallas in a confining air ambulance, you
can imagine the events going through our heads. With images of cartoon
characters falling from ropes fresh in our minds, we were relieved as
the plane landed and we safely planted both feet on the ground - well,
at least I did.
Upon arrival in Dallas, Don was transferred to a hospital and greeted
by a full team of medical professionals. They did surgery on both ankles
and healing began.
Miraculously, Don was back to work two weeks following surgery. Time really
does heal all wounds and can change a crisis into humor. Now, six months
later we can't help but laugh about our Manzanillo adventure and consider
it a part of the lighter side.
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