The Land of the Slow Bones

By Shawn Comrie

A glimpse of traffic coming towards me. Then...just blue sky and the smell of petrol!

On the 20th June 2007 a truck driver, with the sun in his eyes, knocked me off my motorcycle. I sustained a gashed open right knee, a right femur that was pushed into the acetabulum and beyond, laceration of muscles in my right buttock, a right arm fractured in four places, a broken right clavicle and possibly some concussion.

I underwent 2 operations, including a total hip replacement, pins in the arm, 3 weeks in hospital, 6 weeks needing to lie flat on my back and 3 months at home recovering and using crutches.

Herewith my notes, of the incident. (Most formerly written in rough, with the left hand.)

The Cracks let the Light in

As the Leonard Cohen song goes, "the cracks let the light in," and in this case they certainly do. Although I was lying on the tarmac with the bike spewing petrol over me, in pain and with a right arm hanging at 90 Degrees, I felt an immense feeling of calm and peace come over me. It was almost as if the "universe was opening up" to give me space to handle it all. I was in one of the biggest messes I had ever been, but there was a strong feeling that in 'the greater scheme of things' this situation was, "No big deal."

I was so calm that I was able to answer a work call and tell them "I would not make it today," and then calmly phone my wife from the roadside. (using left hand) I had sometimes just touched on this "Peace beyond all understanding" during my prior six years of Buddhist Practice, and this seems to have been one of it's benefits, which came, totally unbidden to aid me. Although this feeling faded after a few hours, it definitely set the tone for a successful recovery; as I could well have gone the other direction and slipped into despair with a bad result.

I had Buddhist monks (Geshe Phende) in India and our local Tibetan Buddhist group doing Puja's for me. There were Christians praying, as well as Islamic friends and colleagues, who had me in their devotions at Mosque. I think in some way this all contributed to my remarkable recovery.

With bike and body broken in an instant, my awareness of the Buddhist teachings of 'Cause & Effect,' 'Impermanence', ‘The Preciousness of this frail Human life' and of course Suffering, was rapidly fast tracked! I became strongly aware that although Causes and Conditions led to the 'brokenness,' the right Causes and Conditions also helped my slow but steady recovery. Whilst in hospital I developed a strong awareness of the Buddhist teaching of 'Interconnectiveness,' and how the large hospital itself, was like a vast interconnected organism with all aspects working together towards my recovery; from the floor sweeper, the people in the kitchen, the nurses, the hospital admin, and right up to the Doctors.

Gratitude

I was grateful for even the slightest thing that we normally take for granted. A glass of water when thirsty. The occasional lifting of the intolerable pain. Visits from those who cared. A smile from a nurse. As I could only lie on my back even the clouds crossing the window were a source of delight, and I complained when the nurses closed the curtains at night! To eventually be able to lie on my side, use both hands to eat, use a normal toilet and have a shower instead of bed bath, was pure heaven!

My absolute Gratitude to those that cared. Especially my wonderful wife who was a living angel to me in all this and put in an enormous amount of work towards my recovery, my children for their loving support, all those many others made effort of care in some way or the other, the medical 'miracle workers,' and last but not least, those 'street people' and 'layabouts' who actually "scraped" me off the tarmac in the first place!  

Gratitude for my Buddhist Practice and its teachings, which have sustained me during the long slow recovery, "In the land of the slow bones," which has also included 3 dislocations in the years that followed. (Bone and muscle jolly well take their time!;)

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About Shawn: The loss of his mother while he was a child, set Shawn early on the 'Spiritual Path' and a lifelong interest in Philosophy, Psychology, Religion and Spirituality. He had a long career as a Cardiovascular Perfusionist in Open Heart surgery. This included operating the Heart Lung machine, which initially unbeknown to him, was the very machine that would have saved his mother's life! He practiced Transcendental Mediation for a time, but in 2002  settled for the Buddhist Practice, which has become foundational to all his other interests. Keen for commonality amongst Religions, he is also a member of the local Unitarian Fellowship. Together with his wife Lorraine, he runs the Eclectic Buddhist/SADAG Support Group in Westville Durban, where they live with their disabled son Peter.
skc@telkomsa.net
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