Friday, June 19, 2015

Morning Drama



     I arrived at the YMCA this morning, happy that for once I was on time for my water aerobics class.
I live about seven minutes away, and as a result have this overly optimistic idea of how long it takes me to get there. If I had to travel a half hour I’d probably arrive promptly before class every time. 


          I waved my bar code tag in front of the machine and started down the short hallway to the ladies’ locker room. There in front of me was a person lying face down on the floor. My first thought was that this was an over-enthusiastic member doing some sort of weird stretching or Pilates. But why in the hallway?


          A closer look told me that this person was in trouble. I realized she was the small older woman who would always come a little late to class, walking with very small and very careful steps to the pool. 


          I called for help from the desk (which I must say could have done less peering over the counter and more running) and finally we had people in charge. Someone turned her gently over, revealing a pool of blood worthy of any crime scene on TV. I returned to the desk, telling them to call 911. 


          She was in more official hands than mine so I continued on to my class. We later learned from some of her friends who had been helping her that her husband had been called and she was on her way to the hospital. They also relayed the information that she protested she was all right. 


          It seems she has Parkinson’s and may have lost her balance. 


          I was glad to see that those of us in the class continued on after discussing the whole thing briefly.  I didn’t experience the vulture-like interest you sometimes see when people get too fascinated with someone else’s misfortune. 


          Ironically, I now know the name of several very nice ladies with whom I’ve exchanged conversations anonymously for years.

12 comments:

  1. Well that will give a jump start to your morning. I don't know how well I would do in a stressful situation like that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the old woman's spirit. I bet she was fuming down there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ugh. I hope she's okay. Life can turn bad too quickly. Another reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I could not have gone on to the class. I am afraid my focus would have been all off. I hope she does well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love her spirit - and hope she is back in the class with you soon. Very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a way to start your day.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wonder how long she laid there, glad you got her the help she needed:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You did the right thing in your morning drama.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, that would definitely have been disconcerting. I'm glad she's all right, but gosh it would have been a little strange to come across her like that. There is always the benefit of learning the names of your fellow exercisers when you have something like that happen. Always a silver lining somewhere. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. well, that'll get your heart rate going.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yikes! I'm glad she seems to be OK. How scary. Every time I take a CPR class (which I have to do regularly to work at the school) I think, "Please, God, let me NEVER need to use this."

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm so glad you found her and got help.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.