Given we’re talking about snow in Europe and ruined days, it reminded me of something sad that happened when I was in my wife’s home town of Katowice Poland over a decade ago.
It was icy from past snow and fresh snow was falling. I was walking the icy streets and noticed a young girl walking partly because, well she was a young girl, and partly because I couldn’t believe she had heels on. Sure enough and terribly unfortunate, she fell very hard right before my eyes.
I ran over and bent down to the still girl touching and and speaking to her. She seemed to be out, but then abruptly came to and began crying and was speaking Polish. I kept talking to her and she switched to broken English. Two women came over and one called emergency services with her cell.
The girl’s hands and arms were moving, but her legs bent in awkward positions were not. We all knew enough not to try and move her, especially since if she could move her legs herself she probably would have. She also was pointing at her face and speaking; her face was on the curb, and I think her jaw was broken.
She kept lifting her face off the icy curb, and I knew it must hurt, and she was obviously getting cold. I was still afraid to move her, but then one of the times she lifted her head, I took my fake leather and fake fur hat off and pushed it under her face. She just rested on it then as we waited. A crowd gathered but it was the two women and myself that were talking to her. It was snowing hard, so I had my head and body over her shielding her from the snow fall. I held her hand the entire time as we waited.
Eventually an ambulance came and I helped as we got her on a stretcher moving her as little as possible. Just before they took her, she grasped my hat and pushed it in my direction returning it. It was very touching she wanted to give it back, thinking of me at that time, as I would have gladly let her keep it.
I think of her once in a while wondering how much she recovered. It was awful seeing her legs bent the way they were. I still have the hat; it still has a few tiny flecks staining it of her blood. I never even saw her face, nor she mine.