The Hiking Accident (2) ENGLISH

Kathi runs off. Hopefully she'll meet someone who can help! The phone still has no signal. After a short distance, Kathi slows down and has to take a break. On top of that, her shoe is pinching, probably a blister. As she catches her breath, she suddenly hears cars. A road? It didn't look like it on the hiking map, but perhaps they really had strayed off the path. But if it meant help now, all the better!
The forest path actually ends in a small parking lot. There is only one car there and next to it a friendly-looking older couple in hiking gear.



“Hello, excuse me,” Kathi calls out from afar, completely out of breath. “Can you maybe help me? My friend has twisted her ankle and may have sprained it. My phone has no signal and I can't call an ambulance...”
“Oh dear,” says the woman. “That happened to me a few years ago. Hans, there's a hospital in Burgstadt, isn't there? We could drop them off there, couldn't we?” she asks her husband. “Yes, there's a hospital there,” he confirms.
“How far is it from here to your friend? I can come with you, we'll take her to the car and drop you both off at the hospital. We want to go to Burgstadt anyway.”
“That's really sweet of you!” Kathi is relieved. “She's only about five minutes from here.”

Together with the man, she hurries back to Hannah while the woman waits by the car. They take Hannah between them so that she hardly has to put any weight on her injured foot and take her to the car.
Hannah's ankle is now very swollen and bluish in color. When she bumps it lightly as she gets into the back seat of the car, she feels dizzy with pain. She feels really miserable. She had been looking forward to the mini vacation with her best friend for weeks and now everything is ruined on the very first day. How can you be so unlucky?
Fortunately, the drive to Burgstadt only takes ten minutes. They stop right in front of the entrance to the small hospital. Kathi helps Hannah get out of the car. The two of them thank the nice couple again. “I'll keep my fingers crossed that you haven't broken your ankle,” says the woman.

Hannah hobbles to the registration desk leaning on Kathi. The two of them are then told to take a seat in the waiting area. Hannah feels nauseous and Kathi gets her a cup of water. Fortunately, there isn't much going on at the moment and the two of them are called into a treatment room shortly afterwards. The young doctor seems a little cool. She asks Hannah how the accident happened and then takes a close look at her ankle. “Does it hurt?” she asks, moving Hannah's foot slightly back and forth. Hannah grimaces. “Yes, it does, but it's still okay.”
When the doctor tries moving her foot sideways, Hannah cries out slightly. “That's not possible!” Hannah holds Kathi's hand during the examination and almost crushes it. “We'll take an X-ray to be absolutely sure,” says the doctor. “You can wait here for a moment, I'll send someone over with a wheelchair to take you to the X-ray area. What I can tell you in advance, however, is that you need to rest your foot completely for the time being. That's it for the hiking tours for now.”



A few minutes later, a nurse arrives and helps Hannah into her wheelchair. Two corridors further on, he drops Kathi and Hannah off at another registration desk, where two friendly members of staff from the X-ray department are already waiting for them. One of them sets up the X-ray machine, while the other maneuvers Hannah from the wheelchair onto the examination table and positions her leg there. Images are taken of both sides of the ankle. Hannah is then placed back in the wheelchair and Kathi drives her to the waiting area in front of the X-ray department. “Do you want something to eat?” asks Kathi, who has slung her and Hannah's hiking rucksacks over her shoulder. “Nah, I still feel sick somehow,” mumbles Hannah. “Such stupid shit!”
The two of them have to wait a while. Kathi tries to cheer Hannah up, but she is very quiet and doesn't feel like talking. Finally, an upbeat-looking doctor comes around the corner. “Mrs. Becker? I've just had a look at your x-rays. That looks good!” he says, almost gleefully. Hannah suddenly seems fully awake again. “Really? So nothing's broken and we can go?” she asks excitedly. The doctor nods cheerfully. “That's right! Nothing is broken, just sprained. And you've torn a ligament. Now you'll get a nice cast and THEN you can go. On crutches, of course.” Hannah and Kathi look at each other and then at the doctor in amazement. They didn't expect that.

In the third and hopefully last treatment room of the day, Hannah sits on a raised treatment table. The doctor has pushed a cushion under her injured leg, Hannah lets her injured foot hang down and the doctor sits on a stool in front of her. Kathi watches from a chair. The lower leg is already wrapped in white padding cotton. “Please keep your foot at a right angle,” the doctor reminds her and takes a box from a cupboard next to him. “How about a red cast? Or maybe orange?” Kathi stands up and looks over his shoulder into the box of material. “I'd go for orange,” she says encouragingly to Hannah. “I'm sure it will glow really nicely!”
Hannah nods, but she doesn't really care. She is dead tired and just wants to get out of this hospital. The doctor continues to work in a good mood and opens the first pack of casting material “I'll make you a nice toe plate. Then everything will be well protected!”
After 20 minutes, he looks at his work with satisfaction. “Wonderful! Too bad, but you'll have the cast off again in about 4 weeks. Please contact your family doctor at home to discuss everything else. I almost forgot, I'll get you another pair of crutches!”
He hurries busily out of the room. Kathi raises an eyebrow. “Too bad you're only wearing the cast for four weeks?” she repeats doubtfully. “Well, it looks really cool though, doesn't it?” she says, still trying to cheer Hannah up. Hannah looks down at her casted foot. “I don't know...”
After the doctor hands Hannah the crutches, the two of them set off. Kathi calls a cab and shortly afterwards they arrive at their vacation apartment. What a long day! By now it's evening. Kathi helps Hannah change her clothes and make herself comfortable on the sofa, where Hannah falls asleep quickly.

(The other episodes will be available as usual in the form of videos and photos).