The day things slowed down

When laughter turns to shrieking in less than a minute you know something very bad has happened. Ten minutes later I found myself running down a dirt path into an unknown village in the hopes of finding help. I didn't know the exact phrase for broken leg but I knew enough to get the point across to the people I ran into.

Two trainees from Librahzd had come to Kuqan for the day, and we had gone hiking in the hills. Everything had gone well before that fateful leap. We had just finished a picnic at the summit and were making our way down when we came to a slight ridge were we could either slide through a large patch of Albanian stickerbushes or we could jump over them. The first two trainees had no problem vaulting over the brambles, although their landings left them a bit bruised.

Ben was not so lucky.

As soon as he hit the ground on the other side of the bushes, there was a loud SCHRICKT and Ben started screaming.

Those next few minutes were a flurry of action. I don't really remember bushwacking through the brambles but as soon as I got down I heard Eric on the phone with the PC medics, Lauren and Sam were talking to Ben in an attempt to calm him down. After making it down and helping to give Ben some aspirin, I grabbed my host brother and tore off down the rest of the hill to try and fin help in the next village.

Despite my broken shqip we managed to get a bag with some ice and some small pieces of wood just in case we needed to make a splint. After running back up the hill and getting caught in some stickerbushes, we made it back to the rest of the group. Eric and Lauren had carried Ben down to a lower part of the hill, closer to the road. After I made it back up, Sam and Eric headed into the village to get more help while Eric also talked to other PC Albania staff. Lauren and I needed to keep Ben from passing out so we kept asking him question after question so that he would have to stay with us. Soon, Eric and Sam returned with some PC staff and a taxi. After we all took turns carrying Ben down the rest of the hill and down the path to the taxi, Lauren and Eric rode with Ben to the hospital. The rest of us headed back to Kuqan and told everyone what happened.

Today I found out that Ben broke both the bones in his leg a few inches above his ankle. He will be flying back to America for surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. I really hope he gets better soon and that he is able to return to Albania. He's a great guy and a good friend, and I wish him all the best.