The Day That I Fell ...

All my life of hiking and climbing, I have sustained injuries like scratches, cuts, hit by a bicycle saddle at my groin, but never one so serious that I had to be on crutches, or in a wheel chair.

On the Sunday of 10 December 2006, everything changed...

I was again hiking up Bukit Tabur with two friends. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and blue. This time, Lydia was setting the pace. We were hiking into the lower parts of the hill, at the second decend. This part of the hill is usally well shaded and cool - a perfect habitat for moss and algae.

While busy chatting, I misplaced my footing and slipped. My body weight pushed my right leg downwards, perpendicular to the ground. The angle of the rock where I steped on caused my foot to twist inwards. The forward motion of my body caused it to further bent leftwards. To absorb the impact, I lunged my body forward and leftwards (to avoid falling off the edge). The leftward motion pushed my ankle further in. This caused a huge jolt at the Calcaneofibular ligament and the Anterior talofibular ligament. The downward force applied at my ankle during this moment was approximated to be more than 1400 pounds (body mass (kg) x gravitational force x 2.205).

The pain was excruciating. I quickly elevated my foot and checked for damage. There were no swelling, bruises, nor crunching sounds. All seemed fine except for the throbing pain. I was thinking to myself "God, help! Christmas production in 3 days away, and I'm one of the cast! Oh let me not me cast away! Please heal me..."

I stood up to test my foot. I could still stand, and walk with a little limp. I was quite confident that there were no broken bones nor detached ligaments. Saw, my good friend passed me a make shift walking stick and advised me to turn back. But I insisted to continue as we were more than three quarter of the way to the sweet spot. And so, we pressed on. It was worth while as you can see... sunrise at Bukit Tabur.

The view changed as the sun warmed up the morning air...

Miss Bukit Tabur shying away from the sun until...

She noticed my camera aiming at her... (actually I asked her to post for my camera lah)

My good friend Saw eager to get into the scene as well...

I must say, they sure no how to post for the camera!

The lady and her homemade carrot cake... though the cake didn't turn as how she expected, it still tasted rather good! (what did I do to crack her up like that?)

Saw and my walking stick...

That's my injured foot, basking in the glory of the 8 a.m. sun!

All was well untill after breakfast at Melawati town. That's when my foot swelled up. It was so bad I could not walk. Saw had to send me to the hospital, and that was when I had to walked on crutches and sat in a wheel chair! This was indeed the day that I have fallen! But thank God, the doctor confirmed that there was no fracture, only torn ligament. (what were the names of the ligaments again?)

By God's grace, I will be able to make it for the musical! I even invited the doctor to come.

Come and watch Word On The Street and experience the Spirit of Christmas at the Grand Ballroom of Flamingo Hotel this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (15, 16, 17 Dec 2006, 8pm) - more details at www.christmas.metrotab.org