“My Friend Was Bleeding, Losing Consciousness, And Forgetting Who I Was.”
I’ve always loved walks in the countryside, and now that winter is finally over, I regularly go on hikes with my best friend. What happened last weekend, however, left us both utterly trauamatized.
Photo by A.von Brockdorff Services
It all started off as the usual Saturday morning hike, and for that weekend, we chose Mistra Bay. The area is beautiful, and it’s far away enough from the hustle and bustle of central Malta to wind down after a long week of work.
We decided to find a quiet place on the rocks overlooking the sea to relax after our walk, and we found a great spot just off the road. A couple of minutes after we had settled down, someone from the road above us threw stones which thankfully missed us. Even though they were quite small, we called out to attract their attention, for fear of us not being so lucky the next time they decide to throw something down.
A minute later, that’s exactly what happened, and this time, it was a much larger stone. It was about the size of a hobża tal-Malti, and came hurtling down at an incredible speed, hitting my friend on her head.
“A large stone, about the size of a hobża, came hurtling down, hitting my friend on her head.”
Blood instantly started pouring down her face, and I could tell she was in serious pain. Within seconds, she started losing consciousness.
Even though my knee-jerk reaction was one of panic, I did my best to stop the blood by pressing a sweater to her head, all the while talking to her and urging her to stay conscious. For some time, she lost all her memory, not even recognizing me. I called out for help, but I heard nothing back.
I called 112 and her husband, but for about 20 minutes, it was just the two of us, alone. There was no way I could carry her up to the road, so I sat there and I waited. Despite our awkward location, the ambulance’s response time was impressive, but every minute felt like an hour.
At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a concussion and internal bleeding. 10 stitches later, we were told she had to be hospitalized for a week.
“I called out for help, but I heard nothing back.”
After the ordeal, the first couple of times I retold the story to the police felt like I was a suspect in the whole thing, which made the matter even worse.
We’re both still shaken after this whole incident, and we’re definitely going to be much warier when going on walks. It’s such a shame that something as harmless as a morning hike can be tarnished so horribly by a couple of negligent people.
No, throwing stones off a cliff is not fun. And what you were told when you were young is true; you can hurt someone. And in cases like this, a concussion, internal bleeding, and stitches is probably one of the least painful outcomes.
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