I have never attempted to write a blog before, but there are two events that have led me to trying to do so. The first relates to a bit of trouble I had doing a Time Trial run by the local Nowra Velo Club in June of last year. As a consequence of this, I had myself checked out at the ED of the local hospital and then quickly found myself being transported by ambulance the next morning to St George Private Hospital. After cardiac catheterisation to determine the extent of the problem, I then underwent open heart surgery with four coronary artery bypass grafts. I had booked in to do the "Hannibal" (a ride from Barcelona to Rome), but obviously had to pull out. The fact that I am here attempting this ride form London to Rome (the "Caesar") is in itself testament to the consummate skill and attention I received from all those involved in my care. If I may pun, I would say to all at St George Private "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart".
The second event was a shark attack on Bombo Beach at Kiama on Wednesday March 30, involving a young surfer named Brett Connellan, who was surfing with a friend, Joel Trist. A fairly accurate account of the attack is in this Sydney Morning Herald article.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/its-not-good-surfer-brett-connellans-first-words-after-shark-attack-at-bombo-beach-20160330-gnurrw.html
I didn't give this fresh attack much attention other than noting that this one was much closer to home. What changed my rather dispassionate attitude was listening to a young anaesthetic nurse, who works in the same OT as myself. She had intimate knowledge of what had happened and the horrific injuries Brett had sustained, as she is his best friend's partner and went to school with both of them. I learnt more details from her. Joel Trist's girlfriend, who is a trained nurse, was on the beach and was able to apply a tourniquet to the leg. Brett was then helicoptered to St. George Hospital where he underwent immediate surgery to assess the nature of his injuries and wash the sand out of the defect in his thigh. Initially, a decision had to be made as to whether to amputate or try and save the leg as a considerable portion of the femur lay exposed. In order to try and save the leg, he underwent three more operations that week, one of them lasting eight hours and involving taking the latissimus dorsi from his back and transplanting it into the defect in his thigh. After five weeks, he was able to be fitted with a leg brace and was allowed home. Listening to her, it was immediately apparent how emotionally involved she and her friends were and this together with seeing the photograph of Brett in hospital surrounded by his friends got me to thinking as to whether I could help in some way. The nature and extent of his injuries mean that he has a long road ahead of him with expenses that one can only guess at. A fundraising event is being held for him at the Shellharbour club on June 25th. Other than my having a rather indulgent holiday with the blessing and unselfishness of my own partner, I got to wondering whether I could offer my support in some way and it seemed that trying to collect money for him for the road ahead was the most practical thing to do and dedicating a blog "Riders for Bretto" linked to a Go Fund Me account on Facebook was the best way to do it. The link to this account is:
https://www.gofundme.com/24zpbnhd
My apologies that this has taken so long to get up. Over six days, we have ridden 800km, but today is a rest day, so I have had some time to sit down (on a rather sore backside) and write this.
I will write some more and post more photos later today.
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