“don’t go to close to the edge, it might be dangerous?”

So, has your mother ever told you to “stay away from the edge” or “don’t go to close to the edge, it might be dangerous?” This holds especially true when you are standing on a 2500 year old wall.

Picture and comments posted with permission.

When a U.S. military member has any problems while visiting China, the Defense Attaché Office gets called. These can be very interesting phone calls… In this case, a young man (a member of the Air Force) while taking pictures gets too close to the edge of the “Great Wall” 长城; causing this 2500 year old wall to break sending him falling 30 feet, crashing through rocks and trees; unfortunately, breaking his back in the process.

First, neither he nor his wife speak any Mandarin. After the accident, they made it to an English speaking hospital just in time for emergency surgery. When surgery was over, they spent the next several days trying to find out how to get medically evacuated back home. They finally called the Embassy on Wednesday and asked for help (the accident happened on Saturday).

My boss/“office manager” (for lack of a comprehensible title) is brilliant at what he does. He was able to coordinate a flight for this young Sergeant within a couple of hours. With luck, the troop and his young wife will be back home by Monday.

The Troop's wife is a strong woman. I think they both are in their early 20s. Not only has she been taking care of her husband for the last 5-days in the hospital, but she is also 4-months pregnant. I cannot even begin to think about the stress she has been going through over the last week. None-the-less she has held it all together very well. My hat is off to her…

Prognosis: The Troop will live! He also looks very happy (I wonder if all the drugs have something to do with it). He even took about 7 steps today and the doctor said he should be “wake boarding” again in about 3 months. The wife was able to get an OB appointment, she and their unborn baby are doing fine, which set everyone’s mind at ease. Additionally, it looks like his Military Health Insurance (TriCare) will cover all the medical bills.

Lessons Learned:

1. Buy Medical Evacuation Insurance. Most civilian health insurance programs do not cover medical evacuations. I don’t know how much a broken back costs in China, but I suspect it is many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Are you covered if something like this happens to you while you are vacationing overseas?

2. Call the Embassy, specifically the American Citizens Services (ACS) office sooner rather than later. “ACS supports the work of our overseas embassies and consulates in providing emergency services to Americans traveling or living abroad.” (copied from the State Department's website) If you are in the military, they will also contact the Defense Attaché Office additional support.

3. A mentally strong spouse is priceless. This Troop feels bad enough to have “ruined” his family’s vacation, he is very fortunate to have a wife with a good head on her shoulders and who can still function under stressful conditions.

I’ll stop by the Hospital tomorrow and let then use my laptop to write home again.

Happy Endings, yea!