Hard landings …

 We have always said that Cyprus is a tough place to fall over, and Tuesday proved that beyond measure. We were in Paphos for Ann to go to St George’s Hospital, and then planned to go to Paphos Home Market, and then Kolios butchers, before I called in to the Blue Cross Hospital to pick up a repeat prescription.

Of course the best laid plans … and we decided to have a light lunch to fill in the time between hospital appointments. I dropped Ann off near the café we planned to visit and went off to park the car. A couple of minutes later she appeared in the side street I had parked in. She had forgotten her mask. There was a cry, she disappeared and all I saw was a car in the middle of the road with the driver standing beside it. Ann had tripped on a broken paving slab and had taken a very heavy fall. The young man in the car had seen what had happened and had stopped to help.

Ann was on the ground in considerable distress. She had hit her head, and in so doing had lost a tooth. There were abrasions and a nasty wound under the chin (where her “angel wings” had penetrated the skin), and her knees and a toe were looking the worst for wear. A man appeared from a nearby house and a woman from further down the street with kitchen roll and water. They helped patch Ann up and clear some of the blood away. The woman wanted to call for an ambulance but I preferred to take Ann back to Polis (we have both experienced less than tender loving care at Paphos General Hospital in the past).

Polis Medical Centre was open and Ann’s wounds were cleaned and dressed. The nurse, who could not have been more caring and competent, asked us to return in the evening to see the doctors to check all was well. We returned in the evening, X-rays were taken (suspected hairline fracture on left wrist), and that was dressed carefully. A salutary experience which could have been so much worse.

A week later and Ann is looking and feeling much better, although her bruises are interesting. We return to Polis Medical Centre tonight for an orthopaedic surgeon to check her wrists. We hope that the hairline fracture (if it was such a thing) will have healed in the last seven days, and that life can start to return to some sort of “normal”.

COVID infections have gone to record levels here with the government unwilling to take the appropriate steps to reduce them. Whatever happens the tourist season here will be a shadow of its former self and much hardship will result. Between the health of the population and the recovery of the economy is a hard place to be in. As in much of this beautiful land, it is a hard place to fall.