My Sob Story
Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2003 7:51 pm
This is my sob story, but it is true in every detail.
1984 Australian Scholastic Titles at North Narrabeen Sydney.
NSW Kneelo members Simon Farrer, Craig Ashdown and myself. I had been so excited to make the NSW Team for the Australian Titles that I had forgotten to look after myself. Here I was staying at Barton Lynch's and Mick Mocks house in Manly Sydney, that NSW Surfing had setup for us. An awesome place to stay for a kneelo grommet looking at Barton's ASP trophies. Anyway what a great time I was having, surfing with likes of Luke Egan, Nicky Wood, Mark Sainsbury and the list goes on. Three days in to the competition and I had not been eating properly and my blood sugar count was way down (well I know that now) My second round of the comp was coming up so I went out for a warm up surf. Whilst in the surf I got very dizzy and started to see stars, mind you the surf was all of 2ft and utter dribble. I had passed out before from needles at the docs, so this feeling i was holding was very familiar. I knew I was going to pass out. I looked around and started to climb across my board so I would not go under water and also yelled out for help. Next I knew I was in Hospital with tubes hanging out of me everywhere and my parents where there who had driven for two hours after Mick Mock had called them. Apparently a young girl from the Victorian team was next to me when I passed out, she heard me yell and turned to see me slide of my board and go under water, she thought I was joking. It was no joke, she realised and called for more help. I had drowned and was clinically dead for just under a minute before being revived on the beach, picked up in a helicopter and flown to the Royal North Shore Hospital. I was unconscious for three and a half hours. The next day all the State Surfing Teams came and visited me in hospital, with signed apparel from the whole team. How stoked was I, I felt fine, get these stupid pipes out of me. I was out of the hospital in 48 Hours. This was at this time of year, just before Christmas. For three weeks after this I was having pains in my chest that where getting worse and worse. I had met a girl at this time called Sylvia (phew.... gorgeous) and had organised to met her at a club that night (underage of course-i was) I went there and gave her a kiss and had to leave because i was in to much pain. That night I hit the wall, I could not breath without screaming-straight back to hospital. A week had passed and after every test under the sun no-one new what was wrong with me, it was like they put me in the "to hard basket". My mum was all over it ringing lung specialists all over Australia. A legend lung guy from Sydney came down to see me and put a camera down into my lungs, and within an hour of doing that I was of to Sydney in an ambulance and straight into the operating theatre. What had happened was and infection from drowing and swallowing polluted water had caused a abcise (spelling) on my lung that was septic and was about to burst and poison my whole system and kill me, again. I awoke from surgery a day later with 5 broken ribs, 36 stitches and a hose hanging out of my side that was running puss (gross thought still) into a sealed bucket. I was like that for 2 months, and then had a month of slowly pulling the tube out of my side and cutting it of an inch every week. Still makes me cringe, the damaged that had been caused by the first hospital not knowing what was going on, it meant I had lost 95% use of a lung. This all went on in my final year of highschool, so that was out the door. To day I still only have 5% use of that lung, I did exercises for years to expand my good lung to have more capacity. The day I got out of hosipital i wanted to do something so I washed my old mans car for him, swiped my hand over the broken aerial and got 7 stitches in my hand. Stoked, not. 6 months after it happened I got back in the water, I get a little worried surfing by myself nowdays, in case I black out. But I dont let it stop me. A few years later I smashed my knee to pieces and had a 25cm plate and 8 screws inserted into my knee and couldn't walk for another 6 months.
thanks if you read this babble, its the first I have spoken of it for a long time and it made me feel better about it. cheers
1984 Australian Scholastic Titles at North Narrabeen Sydney.
NSW Kneelo members Simon Farrer, Craig Ashdown and myself. I had been so excited to make the NSW Team for the Australian Titles that I had forgotten to look after myself. Here I was staying at Barton Lynch's and Mick Mocks house in Manly Sydney, that NSW Surfing had setup for us. An awesome place to stay for a kneelo grommet looking at Barton's ASP trophies. Anyway what a great time I was having, surfing with likes of Luke Egan, Nicky Wood, Mark Sainsbury and the list goes on. Three days in to the competition and I had not been eating properly and my blood sugar count was way down (well I know that now) My second round of the comp was coming up so I went out for a warm up surf. Whilst in the surf I got very dizzy and started to see stars, mind you the surf was all of 2ft and utter dribble. I had passed out before from needles at the docs, so this feeling i was holding was very familiar. I knew I was going to pass out. I looked around and started to climb across my board so I would not go under water and also yelled out for help. Next I knew I was in Hospital with tubes hanging out of me everywhere and my parents where there who had driven for two hours after Mick Mock had called them. Apparently a young girl from the Victorian team was next to me when I passed out, she heard me yell and turned to see me slide of my board and go under water, she thought I was joking. It was no joke, she realised and called for more help. I had drowned and was clinically dead for just under a minute before being revived on the beach, picked up in a helicopter and flown to the Royal North Shore Hospital. I was unconscious for three and a half hours. The next day all the State Surfing Teams came and visited me in hospital, with signed apparel from the whole team. How stoked was I, I felt fine, get these stupid pipes out of me. I was out of the hospital in 48 Hours. This was at this time of year, just before Christmas. For three weeks after this I was having pains in my chest that where getting worse and worse. I had met a girl at this time called Sylvia (phew.... gorgeous) and had organised to met her at a club that night (underage of course-i was) I went there and gave her a kiss and had to leave because i was in to much pain. That night I hit the wall, I could not breath without screaming-straight back to hospital. A week had passed and after every test under the sun no-one new what was wrong with me, it was like they put me in the "to hard basket". My mum was all over it ringing lung specialists all over Australia. A legend lung guy from Sydney came down to see me and put a camera down into my lungs, and within an hour of doing that I was of to Sydney in an ambulance and straight into the operating theatre. What had happened was and infection from drowing and swallowing polluted water had caused a abcise (spelling) on my lung that was septic and was about to burst and poison my whole system and kill me, again. I awoke from surgery a day later with 5 broken ribs, 36 stitches and a hose hanging out of my side that was running puss (gross thought still) into a sealed bucket. I was like that for 2 months, and then had a month of slowly pulling the tube out of my side and cutting it of an inch every week. Still makes me cringe, the damaged that had been caused by the first hospital not knowing what was going on, it meant I had lost 95% use of a lung. This all went on in my final year of highschool, so that was out the door. To day I still only have 5% use of that lung, I did exercises for years to expand my good lung to have more capacity. The day I got out of hosipital i wanted to do something so I washed my old mans car for him, swiped my hand over the broken aerial and got 7 stitches in my hand. Stoked, not. 6 months after it happened I got back in the water, I get a little worried surfing by myself nowdays, in case I black out. But I dont let it stop me. A few years later I smashed my knee to pieces and had a 25cm plate and 8 screws inserted into my knee and couldn't walk for another 6 months.
thanks if you read this babble, its the first I have spoken of it for a long time and it made me feel better about it. cheers
