“Whew this was a nightmare, the Winter Star Party from hell, much worse than the Fire Ant attack years ago (same leg).” - Jim Sweeny
Groggily throwing off my dreams, I’m awakened by shouting, “Hey, turn those white lights out! This is a star party.” Huh, who’s observing in gale force winds and a torrential downpour? “Just give me ten minutes, ten minutes and I’ll be ok.” Ten minutes of light? What’s Jim up to? “Somebody call 911!” Whoa, I’m awake now.
I climb out of my car and stumble over to all the commotion. My first words, “Jimmy, get to a fucking hospital!”.
*****
Flash back a couple of hours ...
“AAANT! AAANT! AAANT! This is NOAA all hazards radio with a emergency bulletin. A severe storm warning has been issued for the lower keys, including Key West and Marathon until 6:45 PM ...”
The weather radio alerted us to a squall line rapidly approaching from Florida Bay. Lighting, heavy rain, waterspouts (cool!), hail, and winds of 60 MPH or more.
This is not good.
On the last day of the 2008 Winter Star Party, as we were all packing up to leave, a similar squall, with somewhat less intense wind gusts, had literally blown my tent inside out. Destroying two of the four tent poles in the process. No way my tent would survive 60+ MPH winds.
Less than an hour to prepare. And most of our companions had gone off to dinner or shopping or to be tourists in the Keys. (Dave, Jim, and I had just returned from dinner.) Dave elected to completely take down his tent and sleep in the back of his rented minivan that night. Jim and I decided to lower our tents, presenting less surface area to the winds. We both used chunks of coral rock to weigh down the tents, lest the wind lift them up and send them to Cuba.
Jim’s Tent (note coral block in just right of center)
This was a fateful decision.
We then went about stowing anything and everything that could fly about in our area, running for the relative shelter of our vehicles when the rain started.
Storm Front Is Here!
The rain and lightning and wind came (no hail or waterspouts though). Some tents collapsed, stuff blew around, and tents filled with water. But, perhaps because of that half hour we had to prepare, it was mostly a non-event.
*****
Back to the present ...
Jimmy was bleeding. Badly. Fortunately, there was a doctor in the house (or the camp, as were the case) and the Winter Star Party has a Monroe County Sherif’s Deputy on site 24/7 for the duration. And they were both attending to Jim.
I'm certified in wilderness first aid (or at least I was, I probably need to re-certify). But I was relieved that my rusty skills would not be tested. So I went and got my camera (hey, it's what I do).
911 had been called, and help was on the way (I could hear the sirens).
*****
Lots of sirens. First a pickup truck came in. First aid first responder. Ok.
Then a fire truck. A fire truck?
Then the rescue vehicle (a big ambulance).
Then an SUV.
Four vehicles. There was a lot of blood and all, but did we really need four vehicles? And what did they plan to do with the fire truck?
Close Encounters of the Coral Kind
*****
They patched Jim up and loaded him on a stretcher for the ride to the hospital in Marathon.
Stretching Out
Soon he was good to go and in seeming good spirits.
I’m Good!
They then took fifteen or so minutes to figure out how to get all those vehicles out of the camp. All the while we stood around trying to figure out what the fire truck was for. Never did come up with a good answer.
*****
Remember that coral? Here’s a picture, taken the next morning. The brownish stains are dried blood.
The Coral, Winner and Still Champion
While reassembling his tent, Jim dropped his flashlight (and his backup light was packed away). And while moving around in the dark, he re-encountered that “big #*&^%$ piece of coral".
With disastrous results.
He needed twenty plus stitches. Two different antibiotics (apparently coral cuts are nasty). And he lost a big chunk of skin, which may require a graft. Ouch.
But Jim was all patched up and in good spirits Saturday morning.
That’s a big bandage. And yeah, that’s blood on the ground.
But with his breakfast cigar and pepsi, Jim is back in form. And he says, “I’ll be back”.
The rematch is scheduled for one night during the week of February 1st, 2011. Be sure to get your tickets early.
2 comments:
What an adventure - at first I thought all of this was a bad dream! If I would have seen all that blood you would have been reviving me as well! Thank goodness it all ended well (and what a way to be there for your friend and record the whole incidence in pics)...LOL
Hope we can say that all's well that ends well. Coral can be nasty. Ask any swimmer or diver who has encountered cuts and scrapes with them. Hope Jim is healing nicely.
Great series here. Good shots and narrative. Good Job.
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