Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
Last Sunday I mentioned that I actually sat down on the rainforest floor in Borneo to take images of a Western Tarsier, the second smallest primate in the world. Now that wasn’t too wise, especially since I wasn’t wearing anti-bite gaiters on my legs and didn’t have my solid waterproof Gore-Tex shoes on that night. Maybe I should soon write a feature on the minimum gear required for rainforests given that I am heading to another one now, in some remote part of the world (will reveal soon).
And so, for that moment in the Bornean equatorial rainforest, I was fine and happily taking images of the Tarsier. And when we reached back, I decided to take a bath after a very long day which included walking for around 40 kilometres in all. It is while drying myself that I noticed some blood coming from my lower right leg and I immediately realised I needed to act very fast. Richa saw the bite and it appeared that blood was coming out from two points (not one) and the veins on my ankle were very visible and very black. Not a pretty sight.
We started applying first aid swabs on the wound and Richa arranged a taxi somehow to rush me to the nearest hospital. Markus, our new good friend from Germany, really helped a lot and came with us to the hospital and supported Richa in admitting me in the emergency ward and I will always remember that. It was also a bit of a blessing that the incident didn’t happen in Sakau, deep in the jungle, but in Sepilok, which is next to a reasonably big town named Sandakan. Sandakan has a proper government hospital (called ‘The Duchess of Kent’ Hospital) that can manage tropical infections and bites and Sandakan was also the place from where we were to take our return flight out of Borneo.
Another thing I will remember is my reaction to the situation. I was ‘clinical’ beyond belief, and that was to my surprise as well (and I don’t want this to sound like a brag since I am just stating exactly how I reacted in that situation). While Richa was naturally trying to hold back her tears, I was just mechanically putting swabs, picking up some key items before leaving for the hospital (I forgot my phone charger though) and somehow, I was able to take clear decisions. My mind was telling me that the bite was most likely only from a venomous spider (i.e. likely non – venomous to humans) or from a non-venomous snake. If it were otherwise, I would definitely have felt the effects in an hour or so. But still I didn’t want to keep anything to chance.
Upon reaching the hospital, I was rushed into the emergency and immediately one Doctor Wong put the necessary syringes in my veins and took my first blood sample. They also took my ECG and checked oxygen and other vitals and then the wait started. After a few hours, the blood parameters came out normal but as per protocol I was supposed to do another round of tests 6 hours later and all this time my vitals were being monitored real time on the screen. During this time, I learned that the anti-venom serum was the last resort for doctors as it is itself has a lot of side-effects. Doctor Wong explained this to me when I asked if I should take the anti-venom as a precaution.
And as luck would have it, my iPhone was running out of juice and none of the staff there had an iPhone charger and so Richa had to hurriedly, from her phone, take images of the photos in my phone which showed the initial marks on my legs. This would aid the doctors to analyse the progress. Oddly enough, we didn’t have a local SIM at that time, and the hospital emergency didn’t allow wi-fi either and so I couldn’t even WhatsApp the images to Richa. To top it all, we didn’t have the local currency and the hospital didn’t accept USD or credit cards, so they literally admitted me on the belief that I looked like a decent person and would be able to pay the bills. The ATMs and money exchanges were to open the next morning and we explained the situation to Doctor Wong. He was truly a very kind man and it did help that he knew a bit of English and could easily hold a conversation with us.
After a few hours came a senior doctor who I will never forget either – Doctor Timothy Cheng. He had a very good sense of humour and would have seen quite a few such cases in the past. After ensuring the bite marks didn’t look like those from a Viper, he knew the risk was low. So, he just told Richa that I should consider the mark as a souvenir from Borneo. We all had a good laugh and I must say this doctor had the ability to make us smile in such a situation, in a foreign land.
I did feel bad for Richa since she was only allowed in ICU for a few minutes every 2 hours or so, that too as an exception, and had to rest outside on a wooden bench (like an actual wooden bench without a cushion). This is since that’s all there was in the waiting area and I was concerned about the mosquitos and insects at night since we were after all at the equator. But the nurses were regularly checking on Richa and they were really such wonderful human beings.
My second round of tests were also done by around 6 am and by 8 when the results came, the doctors again said that there were no abnormalities found – and what a relief that was. Now there was a plan to move me out of the ICU to the main ward as a precaution, but I was really itching to leave the hospital and get on with our time in Borneo. So, by around 10 in the morning a new doctor came and the sleepless Doctor Wong was there too, along with many other nurses and they all accepted my request. And this is when the real shocker came. I anticipated a huge hospital bill, but all that they charged me was the equivalent of Rs 2,500 INR. That’s for a full night in the ICU with necessary real time monitoring, two rounds of compete blood tests, one ECG and having the service of 3 – 4 doctors and an equal number of nurses. I was really, really flabbergasted at how honest these doctors were and I could not thank them enough.
They were all smiling as they waved us goodbye and we were so glad that while we were in the wrong place at the wrong time but we were also in the right place at the right time. This reminds me, I have to write a thank you note to them, since unlike how we share numbers with the people we meet during our travels, you really typically do not do that with doctors. So, I don’t know how to reach them now, other than to write to the hospital. Maybe I will send them this Garhwal Post feature as well since I don’t know how else to convey my gratitude to them. Doctors do these kind acts all the time, so it’s isn’t anything unusual for them. But since I don’t receive such kindness often, it really becomes a lasting memory whenever I do receive it. I am sure most of us feel the same way. And Happy Halloween to all the readers and I feel this article is rather apt for the day, since it had both horror and humour for us – in hindsight.
Nitin Gairola is an extreme world traveller who has been to every major desert & forest ecoregion on Earth and to around 150 countries & autonomous territories. He is unofficially known as the ‘most travelled Indian’ and this multi-decade exploration program to witness the entire world is named ‘Borderless Planet’. Nitin is a published travel writer & poet too. Join him @ www.instagram.com/MostTravelledIndian/
