You may have noticed that the Custards have been quiet of late on here but trust me, there is a reason. Whilst out geocaching a few weeks ago in Bingley, poor Mr Custard slipped on a tree route whilst trying to find the geocache he was looking for. He fell over sideways and then when he tried to get up he couldn't put any pressure on his foot whatsoever - oh dear, not good :(.
The problem was - he was in the middle of nowhere in the midst of the St Ives Estate (which he said was really lovely by the way if you fancy a day out, well, at least until he fell!) - 2 miles from the car, no one to be seen....I'm sure by now you get the picture! Courageous Mr Custard managed to hobble back to the path in the hope that someone would walk past and he could get some help back to the car. Luckily, about half an hour after sitting on the ground, a man out walking his dog walked past and came to his rescue!
After an unsuccessful attempt of trying to use two walking poles to hold himself up and hobble back to the car, it soon became apparent to Mr Custard and the walker that there was a serious problem with his foot and it was time to call an ambulance...easy you might think? Nope!!! The ambulance found it really difficult to pinpoint where they were on such a large estate (even though Mr Custard had the co ordinates due to having his beloved Garmin Oregon 300 with him) and even when they kind of figured it out between them, the ambulance drivers weren't sure that they could get to him. This then meant that the air ambulance was now on standby to go and airlift him to hospital!
Whilst waiting patiently in pain, Mr Custard rang me to let me know what was going on. I was absolutely gobsmacked as he was just walking in general and the previous two nights before that we were out climbing trees and clambering over huge rocks in a quarry all in the name of the geocache hunt and there was not an injury in sight! Unbelievable!!
When the ambulance arrived and figured out where they were, it had the huge feat of trying to get 2 miles up a bridleway. Not an easy job - but it managed thankfully. The down side to the ambulance getting up the bumpy bridleway was it had to come back down with Mr Custard in it....he was in major pain...there were millions of bumps....I think that this now means that after his trip the West Yorkshire ambulance service are now completely out of gas and air!!!
After many hours in Bradford Royal Infirmary, the doctor came to see us with the results from Mr Custards x rays - the diagnosis was very simple...his ankle was full on broken. After getting his ankle potted up by the funniest Mexican nurse I have ever met, we then had to figure out A. how to get home and then B. how to get the car home as it was still in Bingley! We eventually figured it all out with the amazing help of our geocaching buddies 'The Harrison Boys' who came over after work (without tea and everything!) and helped us to get home (thank you!!!).
We are now just about two weeks on from Mr Custards injury and the poor little mite has since had an operation and been instructed by the medical team to elevate his leg - constantly! This means that he is stuck in (just when the sun has come out) and has had to stop geocaching for a while...to someone as avid a fan of this hobby as him....its a real down side to an injury like this and his trusty Garmin GPS is feeling a little lonely at the moment!
After such a hectic few weeks with many traumas I will however try and keep up to this blog a little more often from now on, I will let you know how Mr Custard is getting on and will find other things to tell you about...I am the kind of person who has never been lost for words before so I'm sure I will find something to write about!
I would now just like to end this post with a couple of things - firstly, get well soon Mr Custard! And finally - thank you Harrison Boys you have been amazing and we owe you one! :)
