I Faw' Down N' Go Boom

Kent can do: Kent Stout binds my ankle after I took a plunge down the stairs in Avilés.

Deadlines prevent me from working an a proper report on the Avilés festival right now - though have a look at Chris "does the man never sleep?" Weston's blog, especially as he was there for the full week - however, I really wanted to say thanks to a few people publicly for the way they helped me out over the weekend.

On the Saturday, coming down into the hotel lobby, I missed a step and fell hard onto my ankle, twisting it agonizingly (at the time it hurt so much I feared it might be broken). Luckily for me, I fell more or less at the feet of Kent Stout, the wife of guest William Stout. It happens that Kent is a Medical Assistant by profession, which means that she spends much of her working life treating exactly the kind of minor injury I'd just suffered. Thanks to her, I my ankle was bound up and packed in ice within a couple of minutes of the accident. Even better, she was able to determine that there was no serious injury - otherwise, I'd have probably lost much of my one full day in Avilés to a trip to casualty.

Cooling my heels in the hotel lobby

I'd also like to thank Carmen for rushing out to get the dressings for my ankle, to Irma and Bucky for staying to keep an eye on me, to the nice people at the hotel for supplying me with ice (once at 3am), and to the gentleman whose name I've shamefully forgotten, who helped me back from the closing ceremony to the hotel, and even went all the way down to the lobby and back from the second floor when I forgot my keys!

A bit swollen but not even bruised: my foot's rapidly returning to normal.

By the following day, my foot was feeling a lot better. I was able to get myself and my luggage home without difficulty, and on the Monday, I even managed to do my Tai Chi class (albeit carefully). Though it's still a bit swollen, I'm able to walk on it normally now.

Thanks again to everyone who hleped me over the weekend, and to everyone who asked after me.