Introvert Talks - A Fall, A Pause, A Reminder

"Introvert Talks" is meant to be a new initiative or theme, where I myself as an introvert, just talk about reflections and thoughts about my life, or maybe share more personal stuff. :)

This is my weekly post under this "Introvert Talks" theme and let's see where it takes me and us.

Last week, I had a terrible fall. And you know what's worse than that - I fell while I was on a vacation.

So, in case you haven't noticed my inactivity and lack of posts, I took a short vacation and travelled to Seoul, South Korea last week. The vacation was supposed to be 6 days, but on the 3rd day, I tripped over a road divider and fell terribly. Everything happened so quickly, from the moment my left leg kicked something on the ground, and then losing my balance, and because the ground was somewhat smooth, I slided for a short distance and fortunately, I reacted fast enough to break the fall with my arms.

Injury wise, I suffered abrasions and bleeding on my left knee, and minor bruises and bleeding on both my elbows. At that instant, I remembered that I was in so much pain in my knee and I couldn't really move my left leg. To be honest, I couldn't remember when was the last time I had such a terrible fall with bleeding and bruises, because I have always been quite careful, but since it happened, no point thinking about the "what ifs".

Anyway, while my friend went to the mall nearby to find a pharmacy, I went into shock for a few seconds, maybe because of my bleeding and just stunned at what just happened. I also freaked out for a few seconds, as I wasn't sure how severe my injury was (will I be able to walk?), and I was in foreign land as well. Fortunately, I managed to calm myself down, when I realised I was able to move, or rather, limp my way to a nearby area to rest.

Being first aid trained during my schooling years, when I calmed down, my first instinct was I needed to wash my wounds. So I limped my way to the mall toilet and trying to wash my wound with running water. And I just want to give a shoutout to the stranger (a local uncle), who actually saw my state and gave me some plasters for my wounds. For someone who was struggling, it was really a heartwarming moment to see a random human reach out to help me out, so thumbs up to the Koreans out there.

And then my friend managed to get some antiseptic liquid, ointment, and patches/bandages subsequently, and we had to cut our travel itinerary abruptly and took a Uber back to our hotel.

I spent the entire next day (4th day) sleeping and in the hotel room because I couldn't walk much and I was hoping that the wound would heal faster if I minimised my movement. With just two days away from my flight, deep down, I was generally worried if I was able to make it to board the flight back. Once again, I was thankful that my friend was able to buy food back for me.

And since you are seeing this entry, it means I have safely returned home. The one full day of rest definitely made a difference, and I travelled via Uber subsequently from place to place instead of public transport to minimise walking, especially when there were countless stairs in the train stations.

Mentally, I thought I was much stronger (maybe it's an age thing), I was more positive and wasn't really feeling down at all. I figured out that this was what happened and feeling down wouldn't be able to reverse the fall and injury, so I had to focus on getting well again and make the best out of my remaining trip.

Fast forward to today, I think my wound is on its way to recovery, and it's still tricky to walk because excessive movement risks opening the wound on the knee. The past days made me realise how challenging it is not being able to walk 100%, even as I get around the house doing the chores.

Let's hope this is temporary hiccup in my life, and even though this was unpleasant experience, I should feel fortunate that I am generally fine. In the mean time, I should be patient and let time do the healing. Ending the post with a photo that I took from the hotel lounge, that's Namsan Mountain with Seoul Tower at the top of it. Very scenic.