Thursday 19th February, 2015             Chinese New Year           1900

Happy bloody new year……………….

I won’t be going to either Anqing or Hefei now,

As it was a nice day I decided to do my last shop before leaving for Anqing on Saturday  this afternoon and duly left at two. Very little traffic on the roads with the exception of around the lake where families were having outings. On the outskirts of town there was a little more traffic but it was still light. I got on the roundabout to go straight over to RT Mart and a car entered behind me. They do that here as they have right of way rather than the vehicle already on the roundabout so it was nothing unusual. Needing to move over a bit so as to take the next exit, once that car had passed me I glanced over my shoulder to see if the coast was clear behind. It was.

On facing the front again, to my horror the white car that had entered behind me and passed me was now stopped in the middle of the roundabout in close proximity! I braked and the rear wheel locked and the back end started to go so I released the brakes but to no avail. As I hit the road all I could think was “OH NO, not again!” I did try to let go of the bike but it had trapped my foot under itself and dragged me with it.

In situations like that I tend to have irrational thoughts, this time it was that I hoped I would still be able to go to Anqing and Hefei. Indeed immediately afterwards it seemed a possibility but when I tried to get my bike off the road it took a good Samaritan to do it for me. Oddly the back wheel was still locked up so he had to drag it. The wheel stayed locked for a good ten minutes and then suddenly it would turn. That may explain why when I released the brakes I couldn’t recover.

Anyway I sat and had a smoke and decided to carry on to the supermarket. When I got there and parked up, I realised I couldn’t walk any more. Sure I could ride the bike but I was beginning to get concerned I may have broken my pelvis.

I rode to the number one hospital. Entering the nearest available door to where I could park, I found the place deserted and so sat down to have a smoke, hoping a staff member would happen by. They didn’t, so I had to painfully and slowly inch to the lifts and go up a floor. Assistance and a wheelchair eventually arrived and I was taken to A&E. The doctor decided my thigh problem was something muscular but sent me for x-rays on my hip and my left foot. While I was waiting after the photos had been delivered, a nurse came out and informed me it wasn’t serious. That was a relief. They had twigged I was from the university and asked for a contact number. I gave them Cinny’s. A while later I was wheeled back in to be given the news that I had fractured my foot.

“Oh God, don’t tell me you want to do another operation?” I said, thinking of the dog and cats all alone. To my great relief they said I needed a plaster cast. Bang went my travel plans. Worse, Cinny sent a text saying Director Xu of the Foreign Affairs Dept was on his way and that as it was the holiday I would have to pay the bill myself for now. Luckily I had withdrawn money before I left so that wasn’t a problem but the last thing I wanted was to spoil anyone’s special day, for indeed it is very special in China. Too late, he was on the way.

By now it was dawning that for some days at least, I was going to be completely unable to do anything for myself at home. I asked Mulan and she very kindly, bless her, instantly said she would come back to look after me. There are no buses today so I said immediately that I would pay for the taxi, which I thought very reasonable at 50y. My hospital bill was 423y and I now have a cast in place.

We had to leave the hospital and go and buy some crutches for 98y and when  I was brought home it took half an hour and extreme agony to get up to my place. I was exhausted from the effort. I am now trapped in my own home until those muscles play ball because I can’t lift the foot off the ground to use the crutches. It’s going to be fun when term starts, seeing as all my classes are on the 4th or 5th floor!

So that’s my new year’s day - and all because it is going to rain tomorrow and I thought I would do the shopping today. Fate eh?