Take time to smell the roses
28 June 2006 | Tobago Cays
We should enjoy every day to its fullest and be grateful for all that we have. Some days we get angry or are sad or frustrated but lets not forget about the big picture, life is precious.
There was a medical emergency in Tobago Cays while we were there. A sailboat by the name of Fairweather made an announcement on the vhf one afteroon asking for medical assistance because she thought her husband was having a stroke. No one answered her call so Menno and I did and quickly went over to their boat and sure enough Tony had a stroke. He was paralyzed on his left side but alert.
Menno quickly went to find one of the boat boys, the one with the fastest engine, so we could transport him right away to Union Island, 5 miles away. I tried to keep Tony calm and talking to me. Some other cruisers also came to our assistance, Jimmy on Heatwave (a retired firefighter) and Dididre on Dominique and Hans on Avalon ( a second year Medical student). We transferred Tony to the fast boat and the hospital was called and alerted of his arrival. Pat, his wife, and Hans went with him to Union Island.
Tony was immediately airlifted onto St Vincent and from there onto Barbados. He is stable and his condition seems to be unchanged, his mind is alert but the paralysis continues.
We assisted the "coast guard" in moving their sailboat over to Union Island, a more secure anchorage. That is all we could do, so we have now moved on and are in Carriacou.
This incident just makes us all stop and think about how precious life is. We have no guarentee and so it is best to hug the ones you love every day.