I know everyone is probably wondering about what exactly happened and as I've now had two days in which I've felt more calm and able to cope better, I thought that I'd give you the details I know about 1 May 2015 when Trevor fell.
Trevor is part of Hikers Network and part of the mountain rescue team, so he has been on quite a few rescues and because of that, I kind of know the procedure and how it works. I have always fretted about the amount of time it takes from the report of an accident to sometimes when the person is actually rescued, but because of Trevor being involved, I know all the work and planing that has to happen before the rescuers go up. In this case of course, that lengthy time flew into my head and although I know its how it works, I wanted this rescue to happen in the blink of an eye, I didn't want it to take hours, regardless of the planning etc.
We arrived at Table Mountain and first went to the lower cable station and I saw a rescue vehicle there, so got out and went to speak to the guy with the vehicle (Forgive me for not remembering names, they all just went in one ear and out the other because I was just to worried). I can't even remember exactly what that guy told me, but I know shortly after, he said he was going down to the skymed landing zone at the bottom of Table Mountain road, where they were going to discuss the rescue and suggested we went down there, which we did. At the landing zone there were a lot of rescue personal, again, most of whom, I just cannot remember their names, although the name David Nel stuck in my head somehow. They were all very helpful in letting us know what was going on and trying to reassure us. There was one lady, who's name I can't remember, who talked to us a lot and that helped, so whoever you are, thank you.
Skymed (the rescue helicopter) was there, but the problem was that the place Trevor fell, was near the top of Table Mountain, just below the cable car route. Not only was the top of the mountain covered in cloud/mist, but the cables from the cable cars would not allow Skymed to get too close, so my hope of a quick rescue by skymed flew out the window and my heart sank. I did see Skymed go up and fly to the accident site, as close as they could get, but the visibility was just too poor. Matthew told me later, that he could hear Skymed, he could hear that they were VERY close to them, but the mist was so thick that he could not even see them at all.
At this point, the information I had was that Trevor had fallen, that he had knocked his head and it was bleeding and that his shoulder was dislocated but that he was still alert and talking. That I could deal with, I was thinking okay...its concussion and a dislocated shoulder, that will probably mean, an overnight stay in hospital and his arm strapped up for a while, so at that point the panic I felt when I got the first phone call, had calmed down and I was relatively calm. My brother, Kenny also arrived on the scene unexpectedly, I did not even know how he knew about it, until I found that Seleste had posted something on fb (the joys of cellphones) and having him there helped too, thanks Kenny.
I don't know exactly when the different parts of the rescue team went up, but I know Anwaaz from Hikers Network went up with a paramedic to get medical attention to Trevor as soon as possible. Matthew also told me later, that just after Trevor's fall, a guy had come up and asked if he could help and miraculously he was a 4th year medical student, so I'm sure having him there so soon helped as well. Because they could not use Skymed to get Trevor off the mountain, the next plan was to use the cable car, so the rescue team had to arrange with the cable car company to stop the whole system for a while so that they could make use of the cable car and stop it just above the accident site (thank you to the cable car company for allowing that). The rescuers absailed down from the cable car to the ground to make plans to take Trevor out via the cable car.
Skymed and the rescue team were constantly keeping an eye on the cloud/mist around the accident site in the hope that it would clear enough to allow Skymed to get Trevor out. The mist cleared sporadically, but it never stayed clear long enough, but then before the cable car rescuse started, Skymed decided it might be clear enough to attempt the rescue. The rescue team with Trevor had to move him further away from the cables from the cable car (they had a stretcher at that point) so that Skymed could airlift him out. The cable car rescue was put on hold and the cable car was freed for normal use and Skymed went up. I felt both relief and a rush of worry, because hearing how Trevor was, was one thing, but seeing him like that...well, I knew that was going to be hard. It was kind of weird....while I was down at the bottom, even with all the information I was getting, it just didn't seem real and because of that, it was easier for me to handle....but now it was getting real and my panic started again.
I was at this point still thinking it wasn't too serious and because I knew Trevor well, I knew he would kill me if I didn't take some pics for him, so I used my cellphone to take some pics of the part of the rescue I could see and I know those on the mountain with him, would have taken pics for the same reason. As I mentioned in a previous blog....when Trevor came down and I got to see him, that was when I had this feeling that it was a lot worse than I had thought, nobody said anything to give me any reason to think it wasn't more than we had previously thought...my instinct just kicked in, telling me that its not what we thought it was and that was when the worry REALLY started.
Kevin drove me and Nicole to the hospital behind the ambulance (well lol not just behind it, we couldn't keep up because they had red lights and we didn't) and when we got there, they were just taking Trevor out of the ambulance into the emergency unit. Then it was more waiting while things were assessed and later the operation to try straighten the vertebrae in his neck. I think I eventually got home again around midnight. It was a long wait, but it was made easier by having some family and friends there so I just want to mention some names (I hope you don't mind me mentioning your names). In the emergency room, Seleste, Matthew, Candice, Charl, and Karen, all of whom had been with Trevor on the mountain when it happened and had had to still walk down after Trevor was airlifted off and I think it was later that Kenny, Glenda, Jane, Caitlin, Mom, Dad and Tracy arrived. Michael, Lydia, Bronwyn and her boyfriend, I think his name is Ryan, Colin and Sandra, and at one point a friend of Trevor's from work arrived too, I think it was Kevin, but I'm not sure. As I right this, I'm trying to picture who was there, but its so difficult to remember, so forgive me if I haven't mentioned your name. Some of these people were with us right up till the time we left the hospital eventually just before midnight. You have no idea how much you being there means to me and to us.
With regards how Trevor fell, originally we all assumed he slipped, but later when we were talking about it, we all thought that knowing Trevor and how much he hikes etc, that slipping wasn't really likely. It was also mentioned that he didn't scream as he fell, nor did he seem to be fighting to stop his fall, he just fell backwards quietly. After this was mentioned to the neurosurgeon, he told us that on the brain scan they did, he did see a small bleed deep in Trevor's brain, so he thinks its very likely that Trevor might have had a mini stroke, which made him black out and that caused his fall. I had been told that a man hiking with his son had seen Trevor fall and as worried as I was about Trevor, that really concerned me and kept coming into my mind. I was worried about how that must have affected them, especially as the son was a youngster, but there was nothing I could do about it. Luckily, later when we went to the hospital, I was told that someone had phoned asking about Trevor and was given a name and telephone number and was told it was a man who had been hiking with his son, so I assumed it was the one who saw the fall and felt a bit of relief that we could actually contact him and see how him and his son were handling it. Matthew phoned him and he and his son had been a bit traumatised by it, but I hope it helped that they could find out about Trevor and that would make it easier for them to deal with it. I know everyone who was with Trevor on the mountain is traumatised and I hope that the fact that we are all banding together to help get through this, is helping them all, I know its helping me.
I will later add some photos to this blog, so keep checking on it later. I just need to get some off my phone and I asked one person for permission to use theirs from fb, because I do not know the person and so don't just want to use his photos. I am not giving detailed information at this time on Trevor's condition, but just know its a spinal injury and he will be in hospital and rehab for about 3 months.
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