Nynke van de Nadort

It was a great day actually. As the sun was starting to set, I had already surfed a bunch of good waves and I was feeling immaculate. It’s almost as if I had to be brought down a notch. I would love to present a cool story about this accident, but all it was, was a kid letting go of his surfboard for it to land on the side of my nose. We were just waiting for the next set of waves as it happened and as soon as it hit me I fell of my board.

If the surfboard hit me two centimeters to the right it would’ve landed in my eye.

Next thing I know, I’m in the middle of the breaking zone and at least three more waves break on top of me. Gasping for air and, with this air, screaming like a pig, I saw my surfing teacher wave to swim towards him on a motorboat. Seeing the amount of blood around me, I thought my nose fell off. As we reached the shore, my body was still full of adrenaline. I can still hear my teacher say: “At least one day of no surfing!” and me thinking to myself: “We’ll see.” As soon as I was alone, I started feeling more and more worried. I decided to go to the emergency room.

They took an x-ray and what do you know: it’s broken. Okay, time for action. What do I do? What should I do? The doctor on the island couldn’t help me any further and I had to go to David. A five hour trip. Mind you, it was eleven pm. Being in survival mode I went home, I got a few hours of sleep and the next day I went to David. In these situations it’s more important than anything to keep your mind clear. Doom thinking was not on the menu.

“Do you want me to put it back?”, asked the specialist talking about the bone when I showed him the x-ray. Stunned by his question I asked: “should you?” He laughed and told me that if he didn’t, you might see a trace of the break once the swelling is gone. Also, he mentioned nonchalantly that if the bone stays cracked in like that, it could cause problems breathing or with my bloodstream in the future. “Okay just do it then please”, I said with a tone as hesitant as one can sound. I will spare you the details. Thinking back to this moment gives me goosebumps everywhere. During the whole procedure the door of the room was open with the waiting room at the end of the hall.