So as I previously mentioned, we had a little freak accident on our bikes and wine tour yesterday. As we were leaving the winery, and heading to the second one, Jessica was at the back of the group with our other roommate Amanda, and the rest of us were at least 100 yards ahead of them and one other girl. So we had gotten to the next winery, and were all waiting out front for the rest to catch up. The last girl got a flat tire, and the guide who was in the back of the group was helping fix her flat tire, while Jess was by herself and about to cross some train tracks. So Jess was concentrating really hard on biking, Amanda was ahead of her and had already crossed the tracks, and a train was coming. The trains here make really different sounds, and it was really quiet, so Jess didnt hear it, and it clipped her arm. She was so shocked, and fell off of her bike, and then realized that her arm was hurt really really badly. It was cut down to the bone, lots of skin was taken off, and her arm was broken in half. As most of us were across the street we had absolutely NO idea what was going on.
Amanda and the other girl with the flat tire were screaming for help, the guide who was in the back was already attending to her wound. Across the street we didnt know how serious it was, so a few minutes later Taryn and I ran over to see what had actually happened. There was a lot of blood, and the guide was holding gauze to her arm, and Jess as brave as can be warned us and said that if we couldnt handle blood we needed to leave, and that her arm was like jello and that she had a large wound. There was blood and pieces of skin all over the sidewalk, the emergency vehicles were called and Jess was in a lot of pain. Taryn was absolutely amazing and just got in there, holding her hand, her friend Stephen was calling his parents and her parents to let them know what had happened, and Jess was just the biggest trooper of them all. She was still making jokes, and completely coherent the entire time, she was thanking us all for being there with her, and was just generally amazing. Once the emergency vehicles got there it got to be kind of a zoo, there at least 8 of them, and all these passersby who stopped to see if she was okay. Jess was put on a stretcher, and taken to the Stellenbosch hospital with Stephen along with her in the ambulance. We were left there in shock.
Taryn and Amanda decided that they wanted to go to the hospital to be support for Jess and Stephen, and Jacob and I stayed to finish the wine tour. I really did not think I could handle sitting in the ER, I thought that someone would have to comfort me and that would have been the worst possible situation. So Taryn and Amanda had to wait for one of the guides girlfriends to come pick them up, take them home to get things for Jess including her insurance for abroad, then ended up taking a train back to Stellenbosch. Jacob and I solemnly (and not willingly on my part) finished the bike tour. I did not drink any more wine, the bike ride was extremely hard, mountain biking that none of us were prepared for and frankly we could not enjoy it. We were getting constant updates from one of the three who were with Jess, and from the guides we were with as well. Jess's friend Stephen was really the most amazing person of the day, only second to Jess. He went to the hospital with her, he had to call her parents and tell them the news, he had to sit in the ER all day by himself until Taryn and Amanda got there around 5pm, he had to pay for all of the services on his credit card, and Jess is his best friend, I can only imagine how the whole experience affected him.
So Jess had surgery almost immediately, after x-rays to repair the compound fracture in her upper arm, she had a screw and a nail put into her humorous bone. Stephen, Amanda and Taryn got to see her after surgery, and even though she was a little drugged up, I think this was the best part of it. As Stephen tells the story, all three of them felt so much anxiety and fear going into Jess's room, but she was in SUCH great spirits when they saw her. She was smiling her giant Jess smile, and just handled the situation better than I think anyone else could. She got to talk to her parents after surgery, and then she spent the night in the hospital.
All of our roommates came together, and Jacob and I told them the situation, what had happened etc, and we really just had to wait for Taryn and Amanda to come home to hear how she actually was. We were still getting constant updates from one of them by phone. I had terrible anxiety all day, and once they were home and told us the good news, that they had seen her and that surgery went well, a wave of relief came over me. Jess is EXTREMELY lucky. The doctor said that he has never seen anyone get hit by a train and survive the impact, Jess is a miracle, and her good spirit and attitude makes me admire her so much. She was spared, and she should be, she is a living miracle.
Today, Taryn, Amanda, Stephen, our other roommate Callie and I all went to the hospital to visit her and she was in even better spirits. We spent the afternoon laughing with her about the accident, and laughing in general, and it was wonderful to see her doing so well. Taryn, Amanda and Stephen are all such amazing friends who had a really rough, trying day, all to be there for Jessica, they are such amazing people. She will be home Tuesday morning, and I cannot wait to have her back!! There is such an absence in our house of 17 without her. I love you Jess!!
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