The Editor, Sir:

I recently attended a wedding in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and was accompanied by my friend, a French national, who was visiting for the very first time we would be in the country for only a week, I naturally wanted to expose my friend to some of the well-known places. These included, the Bob Marley Museum, Emancipation Park, Negril and of course, Dunn’s River Falls.

Although I had not climbed the falls since I was a teenager in high school back in the early 70s, I convinced my friend that this was an experience he could not afford to miss. So, decked out in swimsuits and the required climbing gear (available for rent on the compound), we joined what turned out to be the last group of the day, for what I have now dubbed the ‘treacherous climb’.

Our tour guide turned out to be extremely competent at navigating the twists and turns of the falls. There were probably about 15 persons comprising this group of climbers and at times, our guide would have us form a human chain as we crawled, groped, slid, scampered, (depending on age) to manoeuvre the obstacles – deep ponds, slippery rocks, and gushing water. It was sheer fun!

I climbed on to the last stone and declared “I made it”, my friend in tow, or so I thought. I heard a loud splash and as I turned, blood was all I saw. My friend had slipped on that final stone and was face down in the water, struggling to keep his camera aloft, so as not to lose the memories of theclimb.

Blood was everywhere, and the guide was shouting “Keep your head in the water!”. Did I mention that my friend speaks no English? Despite the blood gushing from the wound, like a typical man, my friend kept saying in French “It’s nothing, it’s nothing’. Someone handed me a black T-shirt to use as a compress and presto – the nurse appeared, as if by magic, and we were guided to the nearby nurses’ Station.

Courteous

A very courteous, kind and competent nurse quickly evaluated the situation, cleaned the wound, summoned an ambulance, which arrived in record time, and my friend was taken to a private clinic. At the clinic, my friend was seen immediately by a very courteous and competent female doctor, who, after dispensing with the usual preliminaries, advised that the wound needed to be stitched. Five stitches later, armed with antibiotics and pain killers, we left the clinic for the hotel at which we were staying. The nurse from Dunn’s River accompanied us to the hotel and made sure to apprise the hotel’s nurse of the situation, in the event my friend needed further assistance during the night.

In the rush, we did not have the opportunity to get names, but through this medium, my friend and I would like to say a big thank you to our fellow climbers who pitched in to help after the accident. Thanks to the lady who gave up her T-shirt; to the wonderful, caring nurse on duty; the driver of the ambulance and the doctor at the clinic. We were particularly impressed with the doctor, not only for her medical competence, but for the fact that we had no money on our person (we had left it at the hotel) to pay for her services. Notwithstanding, she was more than happy to have us return the following day to settle the bill.

Very often we forget to give praise, when due, so a great big thank you to everyone who helped.

I am, etc.,

PHYLLIS M. PARSONS,