My
unforgettable experience on rainy afternoon
I saw a
bicycle on the parking area of our school. It reminds me of an accident that
occurred when I was a child. I was elementary school, grade 6.
That
accident happened when I was with my uncle. At that time, he studied at a state
university in Jakarta. My uncle was at home for holiday. It was an afternoon,
he asked me to accompany him to a sugarcane field.
Sugarcane
(Saccharum) is a plant that is used to make sugar. There were some
sugarcane fields in my village. Actually, it was illegal to eat that. It was
because the sugar cane fields belonged to a sugar company. Therefore, it would
be considered as stealing if people took sugarcanes out of there. However, it
was not a secret that people in my village often took sugarcanes from there. I
also loved to do that. I loved to eat the sugarcane because its sweet flavour.
Therefore,
I cannot help saying no to my uncle’s offer. It was a breezy afternoon when my
uncle rode me on his bicycle to a sugarcane field.
After
taking some sugarcanes, we decided to go home. My uncle rode me on his bicycle.
It was going to rain. The sky was dark and winds blew fast. Therefore, my uncle
rode his bike quickly. Suddenly, my right leg accidentally entered the
bicycle’s spoke. The bike stopped because of my feet. It was very painful.
People
started to gather around us. They were curious about what was happening. They
tried to remove my feet out of the spoke. However, that was useless. I screamed
in pain when people tried to do that. My leg was stuck there. My ankle stuck
between the bike’s rear fork and spoke. People and my uncle stared at me
desperately.
Then, there was someone tried to loosen the rear wheel’s hub using a spanner. But, it still didn’t work. Fortunately, someone brought pliers. He cut spokes using the pliers. As many as three or four spokes were needed to be cut so that my leg could be freed.
Next,
my uncle held me on his arms. I remembered he crossed a river to make a
shortcut to my grandmother’s house. Then, he brought me to the nearest hospital.
At the
hospital, the doctor and nurses gave me some liquid to sterilize my wound. They
tried to remove dead and broken skin from my leg. It was very painful.
I could
not move my leg. So, I asked the nurses whether I needed to have X-ray or not.
But, they assured me and my parents that X-ray was not needed. They said there
were any broken bones in my leg. I felt relieved.
The
doctor put bandage on my leg. He also gave me antibiotics. Then, he let me go
home. As I could not
move my leg, my uncle always held me on his arms.
The same case occurred the next day when I
came to school. My uncle---due to his guilty feeling---picked me up. He took me
to school. He held me on his arms from the parking area to the classroom.
Actually, I was a bit ashamed, but I had no option: I could not walk. Thank
God, my friends cared so much. They helped me to strive during those ‘hard’
times.
Now,
the scar has almost completely disappeared. Yet, I always remember about that
incident every time I see a wheel of a bicycle. However, it doesn’t mean that
I’m afraid of riding bicycle. Riding bicycle always makes me happy.
