Yikes, indie, that's a nasty injury!
Good to see you're recovering nicely....
But I've got a pic of my buddy Tom that will make you feel much better about what happened to you.
Naturally, there's a story involved:
Tom and I went to the Grand Canyon a couple of years back (first visit for both of us since we were wee) and ended up at a certain point on the northern end of the canyon where the grade isn't as sheer and there are actually paths to walk on. However, you're still in for a hell of a drop if you fall...
Anyway, Tom spotted this outcropping that jutted out peninsula-like from the pathways out over the canyon. We decided to check it out, and when I got there, I noticed two large boulders laid deliberately so they block the passage out onto the outcropping. The one on my left came up past my shoulder, while the one on the right came up to my shoulder, but sloped at a 30-something degree angle and is covered with tiny pebbles.
I stopped to survey the situation and see what the best way over would be, and the next thing I know, Tom's standing on the sloped rock. Before I can tell him to get down, he starts sliding. He stupidly tried to keep his balance which just served to add to his momentum down the slope.
I jump out as far as i can and try to grab him and feel his shirt just slip by my fingers and I slap down on the rock. Tom slides off the edge of the rock, drops into the soft dirt and pitches forward - no way 'round it, Tom's going into the canyon.
Tom scrambles for and grabs a dead tree that's on the edge of the outcropping and it whips him around quickly, and just as his waist disappears over the edge, the tree holds. I'm not sure how, but I jumped over the rock to quickly help him back up.
It's then that he tells me he thinks he's broken his ankle - actually, he damn near had the foot snap off the ned of his leg. Fortunately for Tom there just happened to be a paramedic up above where we were who was on vacation, but still had his gear and came to rescue Tom.
At any rate, the ankle was indeed broken, and Tom being the weird cat that he was, wanted a picture of it from his perspective:
There's even one of the paramedic wearing purple gloves giving a thumbs-up, but it reminds me too much of Abu Ghirab photos...
But anyway, I'll betcha feel better already, eh?
