Sean Hynes

December 24th, 2004Bali, around 3:00 in the morning: I rode my motorbike at high speed into a ricefield. A few minutes later, I pick myself up, grab a taxi and head over to Bali International Medical Clinic. The clinic is a popular place for ex-pats and tourists in Bali, if you can describe a clinic as “popular”; however you describe it, BIMC is a hell of lot less scary than Sanglah Public Hospital.

Next, I lose consciousness.

My friend Steve is called. He shoots over to BIMC (I think) and then, the BIMC staff send me to Sanglah Public Hospital — this is the medical equivalent of being rushed at high speed from the best frying pan in a good modern restaurant to a tenament block (American for housing estate) fire in the bad part of town… Continue reading “Summary of my Crash in Bali”

December 23rd and except for a couple of guys from the office, just about everyone I know has headed off the island for the holidays. It’s Wednesday night and even though Christmas and New Year are around the corner, today is just as slow as any other Wednesday.

Paddy’s Bar (or is it “Pub”?) for a few minutes. The five dancing surfers are less entertaining than they think and everyone else seems fairly miserable.

By Midnight, we’re all bored, tired and fading fast — by 1 o’clock, the three of us agree it’s time to go home and save our energy for a better night.

Were we drunk? I’ve been asked this question plenty of times. I’d have to answer we were not. I had the same number of beers as the boys, Heppy & Arie. We drank small bottles of beer spread out over many hours. A very quiet night. Continue reading “Part 1 — Crash and burn in Bali”

Here’s a definition of unconsciousness from Microsoft Encarta’s 2004 Encyclopaedia…

“Unconsciousness… [is a] state in which a person has reduced awareness of his or her surroundings, is without deliberate thoughts, and is less than normally responsive to stimuli such as light and sound.”

Thanks chaps: I’m as much in the dark after reading that as I was in the two weeks following the crash, thank you very much. You see, although I’ve been told I was unconscious for two weeks, I really don’t know what “unconscious” means. It turns out that I’ve never known the meaning of the word — I only thought I understood. Continue reading “Part 2 — Being Unconscious”

Okay, I’ve crashed, picked myself up, found a taxi and taken it to Bali International Medical Clinic. The clinic is a popular place for ex-pats and tourists in Bali, if you can describe a clinic as “popular”; however you describe it, BIMC is a hell of lot less scary than Sanglah Public Hospital. Next, I make that short, quick trip from consciousness to that other place.

My friend Steve is called by BIMC and informed of my condition and then, the BIMC staff send me to Sanglah Public Hospital — this is the medical equivalent of being rushed at high speed from the best frying pan in a good modern restaurant to a tenament block (American for housing estate) fire in the bad part of town… Continue reading “Part 3 — While I was out…”

In many respects, the crash didn’t happen for me at all. I missed it. Slept through most of it and, today, I still don’t really get it.I’m not sure anyone understands this because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have got it before the crash (in case you hadn’t realised, I can be fairly damned dense at times).

Have you ever learned that you snore (possibly like a diesel truck or worse) and, if so, do you remember the first time you were told?

My response was amused disbelief.

Have you ever gotten so drunk you have ZERO memory of what you did the night before and only learn about it from another person?

Oh yes — been there, done that, got the t-shirt. First time it happened though, I really didn’t believe what I was hearing.

If you understand either of those situations, if you’ve experienced them yourself, then you might understand why I’ve kept back 1 or 2 percentage points for disbelief. In other words, I don’t think I’m nuts for not believing; I think it’s a fairly standard response… that small, hard kernel of self-righteousness or denial that mutters and growls, “Nah. Me? No. Uh-uhh, baby. No way.”

Anyway, from time to time, I still feel this way about the crash. Disbelieving. Although I’ve got a ton of witnesses telling me about it. Photographs. X-Rays. Medical Reports. Invoices for work (“Woyk”) done.

“Nah. Me? No. Uh-uhh, baby. No way.”

And, there’s another good reason why believing in the crash and the operations is difficult for me.

The delusions.