Synchronicity

Image: Salvatore Vuono

About two years ago, when I was 4 months pregnant with my son, Mike & I were driving home when we saw a man being attacked by two others. He was being thrown to the ground and no-one was stopping to help. I was terrified. Normally, I'm the first to want to help on a scene, and I did a first aid course specifically so that I could help someone in this situation. But, being pregnant after such a long time of trying unsuccessfully, I was scared. Mike, who is normally the one who doesn't want me in the thick of things, said to me "babe, we HAVE to stop - this guy is going to get killed".

I knew he was right, and I knew that if I didn't stop, I would regret it for the rest of my life, fearful or not. So we stopped, and made a loud noise, and the muggers ran away. The guy was in adrenaline mode, and actually got up and tried to chase them, but he was older, and bleeding. I called to him to please come back and let the security (who was now on the scene in full force) chase the criminals. The guy came back - he was in his 50's, and had been stabbed 5 times.

Inexperienced as I was, I took out my first aid kit, asked permission to tend to him, put on my gloves, and co-ordinated the people to call the ambulance, and find someone more experienced at first aid than I was. I cleaned the wounds and made conversation to make sure that my 'patient' was not in shock. He told me where he was from (about 3 hours from town), and that his wife was not expecting him. He asked me not to call her, because he didn't want to worry her unnecessarily.

I convinced him to let me call her anyway, because as a wife, we want to be able to trust that our family is okay, and it would be awful to find out after the fact. She didn't answer the phone, so I kept her number and would keep trying.

He had been stabbed 5 times in his chest, arm, neck and back. Myself and a more experienced first aider cleaned him up and I reported his wounds to the paramedics when they arrived. As the ambulance took him away, I managed to get hold of his wife. I explained what happened and reassured her that he was not in a critical condition.

I was exhausted and emotional as Mike & I drove home. I hadn't felt any movement from my baby in a while, and I rubbed my tummy and spoke to Josh. I asked im to please give me a good kick so I could know he was ok. He responded with a fabulous nudge.

This isn't even the remarkable part of the story yet.. a couple of days later I phoned to check up on how the guy was doing. He was recovering well, and would be back home that evening. I started to chat with the wife, and said that I knew another person with the same first name as her in the area.. and I'd never heard of the place before then. I asked how big it was, and if she perhaps knew my friend. She asked for the surname, and I told her. She paused, and said, "Janet Chadwick?" (I hadn't told her my surname).. it turns out that I had helped the husband of a fellow coaching student, who lived 3 hours away, and had just moved from Natal to Cape Town.

I was on the edge of crying for about a week after that. It is very difficult to feel like we are all alone or that there isn't a greater purpose to our lives when the universe acts in ways that defy coincidence.

That brings me to yesterday. My husband sent me this arb link about not putting laptops on your lap, because the heat can damage your skin. It's called Toasted Skin Syndrome, and it looks like a weird mottled tan. I teased him about sending me bizarre links. That afternoon, I was visited by a great friend of mine. After catching up, she told me she had this strange rash on her stomach, and that the doctors were totally confused by it and had no idea what it was. They originally thought it was a fungus as she had recently been travelling to exotic places. She showed it to me. It was Toasted Skin Syndrome. I was amazed. I asked her if she had been hugging a hot water bottle regularly, and she had... after months of treatments and a referral to a dermatologist (she is due to go this week), we could put her mind at ease a bit by realising what it was.

When I feel like I'm isolated, or not connected to the outside world, I remind myself that when we simply remove our blinkers for a moment, there are powerful reminders out there of how we are here for a reason.