Coincidence that may have saved my life

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My name is Geoff. In 1981 I was working in Nigeria. One weekend I went with a group of friends to a beach about 40 miles west of Lagos. It was in the middle of nowhere and totally deserted apart from our group. There were no buildings of any sort there. We were having fun standing in the water and letting the waves - up to ten feet high - break over us. One wave didn't break over me. It lifted me off my feet and carried me up the beach before depositing me on my feet again - but the force of the water had lifted my arm out of its socket and my shoulder was dislocated. I had dislocated it a couple of years before and I had needed a general anaesthetic in order for the hospital to reset my arm. In the middle of nowhere in Nigeria I was in deep trouble. Also, Lagos hospitals were closed at weekends. My friends decided that they would have to drive me back to Lagos and look for a doctor. Every step I took was agony as they walked me along the beach to where a path led to where our car was parked. On the way we noticed one other couple on the beach who hadn't been there when we arrived. We had to pass them and the guy asked if he could help. We said probably not because I had dislocated my shoulder. He then announced that he was an orthopaedic surgeon and the girl with him was a nurse! They tried to get my arm back in, but it wouldn't go, so he said that we should drive back to Lagos and meet him at a certain hospital, which he would open specially for us and get me into the operating theatre. We didn't believe him, but drove to the hospital and, sure enough, he turned up and opened up the hospital, gave me a general anaesthetic and put my arm back. He then strapped me up, made an appointment for me to get it checked in a couple of weeks and then said goodbye. He didn't ask for any payment at all. With hospitals in Nigeria being grim places in those days, I hate to think what would have happened to my arm if that guy hadn't been on that beach on that day at that time. It was a miracle.
Total votes: 272
Date submitted:Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:44:24 +0000Coincidence ID:4700

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Sun, 15/01/2012 - 3:47pm

In 1989 I went to Australia with a couple of guys from work. We were touring the country and at one point we ended up at Ayers Rock. Naturally we climbed up it to the top. When we got to the top we ran into a colleague who had worked at our place a couple of years previously. He was contracting in Australia.