This video of a ninety year old Italian Nonna, excitingly opening her birthday gifts took me back to auntie Glad. Some years ago now I was visited by a fellow blogger Hippo, whose life was saved by his blog connections. Living in a real African backwater, he sustained a simple garden injury to his thigh when cutting a hedge.
The injury quickly went necrotic and septic and knowing my experience in the field he sent me a photo, I told him plainly that he would be dead in days if he didn’t refer himself to a specialist hospital, and so with the Great British reserve only known by ex servicemen , he wrapped the injury in cling film and drove a hundred miles to an airport which eventually took him to London.
Presenting himself to the ER he had hours of life left, but the wonders of the nhs saved his life and many weeks later he was sat in my front room, paying his respects amid bulldogs and terriers and Albert the cat.
We went to Auntie Glad’s for tea and scones and she met us warmly in her blue tabard which was dusted with scone flour.
Gladys was in her 90s and not quite understand who Hippo was she still afforded him a cheerful Welsh welcome .
I was amused that when we ate our scones and drank our tea she disappeared for a few minutes only reappearing in her best frock , a string of pearls and a splodge of bright red lipstick on her lips
Now that’s class
I remember this happening. Well done John for timely rescue. Does anyone know what/where Hippo is now?
ReplyDeleteAfter a sudden hiatus of contact ( email) and blog, he last blogged last year
DeleteSadly I took his lack of contact personally
You saved his life John. Nothing can change that. I think he led a very complicated life. Love Janx
DeleteI was pleased to be a part of his drama x
Deletexxxxx
DeleteHow lucky for Hippo that he was able to consult you. I see from your reply above that you've lost contact with him. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteWhat a class act auntie Glad was. The generation where you dressed up when you had guests. xx
The Nonna’s excitement over the pearls set my mind racing back to Gladys
DeleteRed lipstick ….get her !
ReplyDeleteLee
💋
DeleteI remember Hippo's dramatic trip to England to save his life and I remember being thrilled that he came to meet you (and Auntie Glad!) I hope he's doing ok. I wish he'd update his blog again.
ReplyDeleteSome here don’t believe the story
DeleteI hadn't found your blog when this happened and my goodness! It's excellent long-distance doctor by you, John, and am glad Hippo followed your good instructions and lived to tell about it.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that Auntie Glad made you and Hippo welcome and then dressed herself up - plus red lipstick - as befits a lady hosting guests. Wish she was still in hugging distance!
Hugs!
I miss her so
DeleteHippo knew you would give him good advice.
ReplyDeleteYou are the best friend anyone could ask for.
As for Auntie Glad, she will always and forever be remembered as the grand matriarch of your village. Lovely woman.
I wanted them to meet …I was a bit overwhelmed to have him on my own
Deletethe whole hippo thing messed with us all didn't it. it still confuses me and makes me sad. i miss you!
ReplyDeleteI think friends for some have a shelf life
Deletei agree. and sadly but strangely after no contact for so long, i had to put my winnie down today, who i named after your winnie that i adored. i am devastated. i forget who said it but they said if you have the same friends when you are old as you had when you were young, you haven't grown as a person.
DeleteI wasn't one of your readers yet when the Hippo life-saving drama occurred, so I'm glad to hear of it now. Wow, what a story! And of course, any story about dear Auntie Glad is always great!
ReplyDeleteI genuiningly thought he would die enroute
DeleteI remember this drama well. And Auntie Glad's kindness. I always am sad when internet friends disappear, I can understand why you were hurt by Hippo's disappearance soon after. I hope he is well and happy in Africa still.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure he has his reasons
DeleteI found your blog after Hippo’s visit but remember you mentioning him. What a wonder the internet is. Thank you for reminding me of Auntie Glad. I’ll never have her class but I hope I have her aplomb.
ReplyDeleteweavinfool
She wasn’t an easy character, I would be doing her a disservice if I said that , but she was good and kind and she was my friend
DeleteAuntie Glad remains an icon of both your page, and of the village. You gave her to the world, and we all loved her.
ReplyDeleteShe is the icon of Going Gently x
DeleteWow! What a remarkable story (from before I was following your blog)! He was a very lucky man - first to have you to advise him, second to get a plane so expeditiously, third to be able to use the NHS, what a whirlwind that must've been. I can imagine you'd be disappointed to loose contact with him. I was delighted to see Aunt Glad again, definitely one of the best, wasn't she.
ReplyDeleteI think he was lucky , but Tom made his own luck for most of his life, I am glad I played a part in the story
DeleteThanks for this John, you touched my heart.
ReplyDeleteSydney
Xx
DeleteYou always have such wonderful stories to share. x
ReplyDeleteThat’s my job 😄
DeleteI was reading both you and Hippo when he came to UK for his injury. Hope all is well for him these days.
ReplyDeleteI do too
DeleteI am so grateful to have gotten to know auntie glad through you.
ReplyDeleteI like that
DeleteAunty Glad - such a character, John. Wish I'd known her. What a beautiful story - Hippo was very lucky to know you. Had a friend years ago, came to work with a puncture bite on her leg with a large red area around it. She'd been doing work outside under her deck, didn't see what bit her. I believed it to be a brown recluse spider bite. I drew a line around the red area with a marker and said we need to check it in an hour. In an hour, the red had proceeded way past the marker! I told her OMG, GET TO THE ER! She did not believe me, but reluctantly went. Sure enough, brown recluse bite and if she hadn't gone, the bite would've spread and she could have lost her leg! She ended up in the hospital on IV antibiotics for a week.
ReplyDeleteHe was somewhat bemused by her
DeleteFunny how someone I never met will always feel like someone I knew and sort of loved.
ReplyDeleteShe had that skill , I wish I had it
DeleteWell, that's amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a great story for an African evening
DeleteCan we be the Auntie Glad of our communities?
ReplyDeleteWe all can
DeleteSomething in this story didn't and doesn't add up.
ReplyDeleteA highly intelligent man like Hippo [who used to diffuse landmines and has friends in high places] looks to a nurse in Wales for help with a self inflicted wound?
I hope you do know, don't you, that Hippo loved taking the piss.
It's a pity that you felt bruised in the aftermath of your encounter. If I remember correctly your choice of language directed at him was not for the faint hearted. Oh will he have laughed. Don't ask me as to [his] motives. Maybe he just wanted to meet you and Aunt Glad.
In the eternal words of one of my beloved uncles: "Ursula, don't believe everything you are told." Unfortunately, before I could ask him what he meant, other members of the family caught up with us on our walk.
Pinch of salt greetings, John. Just notch it up to life's little quirks without letting it getting to you. Yes, I know, easier said than done.
U
Don’t look too deeply Ursula , he spiked his thigh on a thorn and the injury cavitated ( a cavity was formed full of pus) Tom knew it was bad but hoped it would improve with antibiotics , having said that he knew things were not going well so emailed me the photos of the wound ….
DeleteHe wasn’t eligible for nhs care but was bright enough to follow my friends suggestion of a particular London hospital , in which to be treated
They saved his life Ursula of that I had no doubt at all…I think his thank you visit to Trelawnyd afterwards proved that
Sometimes you can be just too cynical
DeletePs I knew hippo very well , indeed
DeleteYou know, I think I came across his blog a long time ago. It hadn't been updated for some time even then . I think it is very cool that you met someone through such a connection.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing story. So sad you lost touch though.
ReplyDelete