Make a Difference
I will be in transit from Kangaroo Island, South Australia to Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday to be with my sister Amanda in hospital (see posts below).
So unless I have longer than expected wait times in an airport somewhere, there won’t be any new posts for the next 24 hours.
Please keep praying for Amanda, and for me and other family members as we travel to Wellington.
Thank you.
My sister Amanda is out of danger, and doctors have confirmed there is no damage to her spine. Praise God.
They are considering waking her up tomorrow. I am flying from Adelaide to Wellington tomorrow, and hope to with her by the evening.
Please keep her in your prayers as she begins the long painful process of healing.
My much loved sister Amanda has suffered from depression for the last two years, including two periods of hospitalisation.
Last week she was hospitalised again in Wanganui in New Zealand. Three days ago she jumped from the fourth floor of the hospital.
She was on 15 minute observations, and hospital staff and doctors were warned at least twice by her own doctor about the possibility of her attempting suicide. She had also told them that morning she did not feel safe, and asked to be transferred to the secure part of the ward. Despite this she was able to walk out of the pysch unit, 500 metres across the hospital grounds, up the stairs of the main building, and throw herself out the window without anyone noticing.
After emergency surgery to remove her spleen and repair her liver, she has been transferred to Wellington.
Her lungs were punctured by fractured ribs. They are still full of blood and problematic. She has fractured vertebrae in her neck and lower back, a fractured pelvis, and a multitude of other less serious injuries, including head injuries.
Although now stable, she is still in serious danger of death.
She has been kept unconscious so her spine can be stabilised. Doctors have said they will reduce the level of sedation later in the week.
I hope to fly to Wellington on Wednesday so I can be there when (if!) she regains consciousness.
Would you please keep Amanda in your prayers, as well as me and the rest of her family?
Thank you.
Peter
A la Tim Blair, a sea kitten being cuddled in the approved PETA fashion.
The non sea kitten in the photo is Amber, granddaughter of some friends. She accompanied us on a recent sea kitten cuddling trip near American River on Kangaroo Island. A number of large King George Whiting were successfully cuddled.
In the category of other dumb ideas – why is the trend in cafes now to put the serviette under the food, coffee, whatever? This makes it completely useless for its intended purpose, which is to have a convenient way of wiping hands, mouth etc. For a serviette to be able to do its job, two things are required – that it be accessible and clean. So why put it under the food or drink where it is: 1) Often not easy to get out, and 2) Messy before you even use it? Please let’s go back to the simple and sensible idea of putting serviettes, napkins, whatever you want to call them, beside the food or drink. Thanks!
More than just kindness, whatever Jewel might say.
What matters are the things that make us human – our capacity for relationships, for creativity, for hope, and our capacity for rational and purposeful investigation of the world around us.
Baz Lurhmann in Moulin Rouge had it right with his catalogue of beauty, truth and love. But these make a difference in the world only if they are made active in practical thought and rational action.
Qohel is about politics, religion, art, history, about right and wrong, and about how making a difference means depends not just on wanting things to be better, but on working to make them better, and thinking about what works.
© 2024 Qohel