THE BREAK

Slides. Pretty inoffensive you'd think, inoffensive childish fun. This is what I thought as I climbed the rope ladder of the steel slide at the Full Moon Party in Thailand. Admittedly, I probably should have exercised slightly more caution at a slide with fire shooting out the sides and water going down it. In a similar vein, my friend Charlotte probably should have thought twice about running in to join the gaggle of people taking on a giant skipping rope that had been set on fire...she got burns all down her legs. Oh yeah, and my friend Chris maybe should have refrained from hiring a moped for £3, crashing into a dog that ran out in front of him...he flew over the top of the bike, damaged tendons and had to cut his trip short and fly home.

Well, you don't go travelling to act sensible and grown up. My lack of hesitation at the slide on the beach landed me with a metal plate and six pins in my ankle after I flew off the end and crash landed into a group of people.

Although it really fucking hurt, since I could still wiggle my toes, I managed to convince myself that it couldn't possibly be broken, despite a 'clicking' when I walked and the fact that my ankle now resembled an elephant's. I tried to walk and dance on it for about an hour, and only have up and went home because it started POURING with rain and my camera was getting wet. Yup, priorities.

I ended up staying a week in hospital. My insurance wanted me to come home straight after the op, but I made up my mind that I would be FINE and carry on my trip. I had no idea what was ahead of me - it's been over six weeks now since the op and I still can't put weight on my left foot.

The thought of Paul coming out to visit me was what stopped me wanting to go home. I was so pleased to see him after a month apart and a week stuck inside a hospital that I was shaking. After having my leg elevated for a week and being wheeled everywhere, I was DESPERATE to get going again. On the day I got discharged, Paul carried his own backpack, with my backpack on top (all 11 kilos of it), and I made myself useful by nearly falling over getting out of the wheelchair at the hospital exit. Not the best start...