United with Dan on a Mission

2.3. Horsing around

It was my matric (Grade 12) final exams and most of the really difficult subjects were done and dusted. The day before my EGD (Engineering Graphics and Design) exam, which was one of my best subjects, I decided to get out of the house and get some fresh air. A friend invited me to go ride horses with her. So I joined her and we rode around for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the stables. I had really enjoyed it and was sorry it was over. Then she asked whether I wanted to ride for just a little while longer. I said, “YES! Without a doubt!” So we went, but this time we were walking slowly and she held the horse by the reigns, leading it. Suddenly the horse jerked, pulled the reigns out of her hands and bolted. I intended to jump off, but by the time I started to position myself the horse had sped up and was charging at such a pace that jumping off would have probably ended badly. Instead I turned my energy and focus to staying on the horse. It was heading for the stable fields and I reckoned once it got to the grazing area it would slow down and then I could take my chance to get off. But suddenly the horse turned for the stable. I just remember seeing a wall coming at me incredibly fast. There was an archway, and by lowering its head the horse just fitted in bellow it. Only my legs were safe… There was no space for the rest of me. I remember thinking, in a stone-cold state of realisation at what was about to happen, “Oh God save me!!!!” Instinctively I lifted my left hand up to protect my face, before smashing into the wall with such force that I ended up flying through the air like a ragdoll, right through the stable and out the other side. After bouncing and skidding I finally stopped, and as I lay face down in the mud, my first thought was: “Am I really still in the land of the living?” At first I couldn’t feel anything; everything was numb, I couldn’t move, but I lay there thanking God. Amongst hundreds of other things running through my mind, I mostly felt a lot of relief – at least I was alive! Everyone else nearby came running towards me, then suddenly the pain hit me. It was all over. I struggled to me feet, a little surprised that I could actually move. I messaged Mom please to fetch me and then went to find water to clean myself up a bit. Suddenly the world around me went white, but just before the last bit of colour left, I came back to my senses. It wasn’t long before my mother arrived to cart me off to the hospital. I was glad that I had used a helmet, because it was totalled and considering my previous head injuries and that my skull could have looked like that helmet, I felt like I had once again narrowly escaped death.

At the hospital, they did all kinds of scans, x-rays and stuff, and I had to spend the night there for observation. It was awful! Too little food; I had to sleep on my back (pretty much impossible); the drip in my hand was itching like crazy and drove me pretty much insane. At daybreak, my mother came back to hear the doctor’s report – he said that I was all clear to be discharged and go write my exam, after one more injection for pain. By that time I was pretty annoyed that I had to stay at the hospital overnight, but glad that it was over. I went to write my exam. The first few questions went relatively well, but then disaster struck. Apart from my aching ribs, that made me feel faint, I discovered to my horror and surprise that I could not pickup my drawing equipment with my left hand, or even manage to hold any of the instruments in place. I was unable to finish my paper and had to leave the exam room. The teachers were livid and wouldn’t let me out at first. Not completing an exam, and/or leaving an exam room early, was considered an irregularity and required some substantial paperwork. It was explained that I also had no guarantee that the Dept. of Education would allow me a re-write. The doctor should rather have given me a medical certificate from the start, as this would have allowed me to write the exam at a later stage. My mother was also questioned and to some degree criticised for allowing me to go horse-riding in the ‘middle of my final exams’.

When we went back to the hospital for X-rays of my left hand, I remember saying to my mom, “Considering the cold response and the harshness of everyone at school, maybe I should pray that my hand is broken. That way they would have to accept it!” My mother cautioned me to not speak like that: “Be careful what you wish for!” she said, “what if God takes you up on that?” The x-ray report came back. Sure enough my wrist was broken.

It was awful spending some 6 weeks or more of my summer holiday with my arm in a cast, and I often wonder… “What if I hadn’t said that? Would it have been different?” Somehow the fact that it remained so significant makes me think that it might have actually made a difference. So the lesson here is: Be careful what you pray for!

Considering everything that happened, I have to acknowledge without a doubt, that that voiceless shout of desperation, “Oh God save me!!” as I faced the possibility of death for the second time… made a difference. It cannot be written off as just ‘luck’, as I tried to do for so long. Looking back now: No broken ribs; my head was fine; no back, spine or spleen damage. No internal bleeding or damage to organs after hitting a wall like that at the speed I did, and flying around like a rag doll, is just nothing short of an amazing miracle! No doubt about it!