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| Waiting for the ship that could save a man's life | Waiting for the ship that could save a man's life |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The closest land mass to Tristan da Cunha is more than 2,000km (1,500 miles) away - Chris Carnegy was on the South Atlantic island when a medical emergency brought home just how remote the community is. | The closest land mass to Tristan da Cunha is more than 2,000km (1,500 miles) away - Chris Carnegy was on the South Atlantic island when a medical emergency brought home just how remote the community is. |
| I arrived on Tristan after a six-day voyage from Cape Town, on a fishing boat so old that it saw the Icelandic Cod Wars of the 1970s. | I arrived on Tristan after a six-day voyage from Cape Town, on a fishing boat so old that it saw the Icelandic Cod Wars of the 1970s. |
| She's not glamorous, but the Edinburgh is a lifeline bringing freight, fuel and a few passengers - and departing with the lobster catch that keeps this island in business. | She's not glamorous, but the Edinburgh is a lifeline bringing freight, fuel and a few passengers - and departing with the lobster catch that keeps this island in business. |
| And once in a while she turns into one of the slowest ambulances on Earth. | And once in a while she turns into one of the slowest ambulances on Earth. |
| At this time of year, scheduled voyages to what Tristan calls "the outside world" can be 12 weeks apart and after I stepped ashore I gradually became aware that this tiny community was bent to the task of keeping one elderly man alive while it waited for a ship. | At this time of year, scheduled voyages to what Tristan calls "the outside world" can be 12 weeks apart and after I stepped ashore I gradually became aware that this tiny community was bent to the task of keeping one elderly man alive while it waited for a ship. |
| The clues were all around. A 76-year-old I know was helping with cleaning and laundry at the run-down little hospital, while the anxious weeks ticked by. In the main government building, a flurry of paperwork was paving the way for the eventual transfer. | The clues were all around. A 76-year-old I know was helping with cleaning and laundry at the run-down little hospital, while the anxious weeks ticked by. In the main government building, a flurry of paperwork was paving the way for the eventual transfer. |
| And at the hospital, I did a double take. I bumped into a young man who looked just like a Tristanian seafarer of my acquaintance - but this guy was on ward duty, clad in a blue nursing uniform. It was the same man, of course, learning fast how to turn, wash, and monitor the patient. | And at the hospital, I did a double take. I bumped into a young man who looked just like a Tristanian seafarer of my acquaintance - but this guy was on ward duty, clad in a blue nursing uniform. It was the same man, of course, learning fast how to turn, wash, and monitor the patient. |
| Fewer than 300 people live on Tristan, huddled beneath the soaring volcano peak. All of them knew of the struggle in the hospital, where normally there's just one doctor on call every day, every night. | Fewer than 300 people live on Tristan, huddled beneath the soaring volcano peak. All of them knew of the struggle in the hospital, where normally there's just one doctor on call every day, every night. |
| For a few months there had been two - one of them planned to depart the island with the patient and the novice nursing assistant but that would have put the fishing boat over its legal passenger limit. | For a few months there had been two - one of them planned to depart the island with the patient and the novice nursing assistant but that would have put the fishing boat over its legal passenger limit. |
| I was a visitor, but I'm also a volunteer worker for Tristan, a kind of honorary consul for the island. So it fell to me to give up my berth on the journey back to Cape Town in favour of the medical team. | I was a visitor, but I'm also a volunteer worker for Tristan, a kind of honorary consul for the island. So it fell to me to give up my berth on the journey back to Cape Town in favour of the medical team. |
| I confess to you now that down on the harbourside I worried for a moment about my busy life back home. The next guaranteed departure wasn't until October. I actually fretted about missing my annual BBC staff appraisal. | I confess to you now that down on the harbourside I worried for a moment about my busy life back home. The next guaranteed departure wasn't until October. I actually fretted about missing my annual BBC staff appraisal. |
| But that sort of trivia fled my mind when I glanced up at the steep road that leads down from the village. Around the corner inched a little motorcade. At its head was the island's ambulance, travelling at walking pace. Behind it, Tristan da Cunha's one policeman, driving his Land Rover. And then the remaining doctor, and then the relatives, in their own vehicles. Slowly, reverently. | But that sort of trivia fled my mind when I glanced up at the steep road that leads down from the village. Around the corner inched a little motorcade. At its head was the island's ambulance, travelling at walking pace. Behind it, Tristan da Cunha's one policeman, driving his Land Rover. And then the remaining doctor, and then the relatives, in their own vehicles. Slowly, reverently. |
| By the quayside the procession came to a halt, and after a few minutes the patient was eased from the ambulance on his stretcher. And then, a strangely affecting scene, as a group of muscular fishermen became the gentlest, tenderest of carers. They had been loading baggage - I was watching closely, observing the old-fashioned rope nets that were swung on to the harbour launch. Amid the clutter I spotted Her Britannic Majesty's diplomatic bag, which turns out to be just a simple canvas sack at the start of its marathon journey to Whitehall. | By the quayside the procession came to a halt, and after a few minutes the patient was eased from the ambulance on his stretcher. And then, a strangely affecting scene, as a group of muscular fishermen became the gentlest, tenderest of carers. They had been loading baggage - I was watching closely, observing the old-fashioned rope nets that were swung on to the harbour launch. Amid the clutter I spotted Her Britannic Majesty's diplomatic bag, which turns out to be just a simple canvas sack at the start of its marathon journey to Whitehall. |
| When the ambulance arrived, the men swung into a different rhythm. To make space, the last net of routine cargo was hauled unceremoniously off the launch, and then, a painstaking operation as patient, stretcher and oxygen tank were roped together into one tiny, fragile load and hooked up to the crane - gently so gently he was lowered on to a cushioned spot in the open launch and we all gave brave thumbs ups and waves as they headed slowly out to sea. | When the ambulance arrived, the men swung into a different rhythm. To make space, the last net of routine cargo was hauled unceremoniously off the launch, and then, a painstaking operation as patient, stretcher and oxygen tank were roped together into one tiny, fragile load and hooked up to the crane - gently so gently he was lowered on to a cushioned spot in the open launch and we all gave brave thumbs ups and waves as they headed slowly out to sea. |
| A couple of hours passed before I saw the fishing boat finally heading over the horizon. | A couple of hours passed before I saw the fishing boat finally heading over the horizon. |
| In the days that followed, I was humbled as Tristanians thanked me for my tiny sacrifice, and brought gifts of hand-knitted island souvenirs. Eventually, a giant container ship was hailed to give me a lift home, and I began to pack, on a day of sparkling midwinter sunshine. | |
| That afternoon, there was news from the fishing boat, by now more than halfway through its six-day voyage. The patient had lost his fight for life. In effect, an entire island community had lost its fight. | That afternoon, there was news from the fishing boat, by now more than halfway through its six-day voyage. The patient had lost his fight for life. In effect, an entire island community had lost its fight. |
| The romantic poets would have recognised what came next. The sunshine was extinguished. The skies over Tristan da Cunha abruptly darkened, and a sad, cold rain began to fall. | The romantic poets would have recognised what came next. The sunshine was extinguished. The skies over Tristan da Cunha abruptly darkened, and a sad, cold rain began to fall. |
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