Skiing is so infectious
Talk about a mountain to climb. My colleague Penny took a ski break with her fiancé and two children to Alpe d’Huez but spent more time in accident and emergency than she did on après-ski.The holiday was to be Penny’s introduction to skiing and the children’s first season too, so you can imagine the level of expectation that surrounded it.
Penny had sourced some great ski-wear and was looking forward to donning her salopettes for some impressive action shots like the ones you see in the Daily Mail when the royals have been on the slopes.
The week before they were due to travel, Penny’s 11-year-old daughter Alyce was rushed to hospital with appendicitis. She was operated on and told that she could travel but to take it easy on the pistes.
The first day went well – the snow was good and Penny remained upright for most of the day, even managing some elementary steering, while the children made excellent starts to their ski lessons.
But by the end of the first evening, Alyce’s wound and general demeanour were troubling Penny and she decided to take her to the resort’s medical centre. The doctor diagnosed an infection and abscess and immediately admitted Alyce to the local hospital, where she was operated on to remove not one, but two abscesses caused by infection.
Penny has nothing but praise for the French medical team that dealt with Alyce and for the Crystal crew who supported her and the family throughout the ordeal. In spite of the fact that both she and Alyce ended up looking at the mountains from the hospital, Penny remains philosophical.
“It was fate,” she says, “it was far better for Alyce to have been treated in a state-of-the-art French hospital than chance it again on the NHS.”
Alyce is now on the mend and looking forward to next season.
Trust us, we’re no doctors
Talking of things medical, Mandy Lipscombe of Cannon Travel in Hertfordshire tells me she has learnt so much about rashes and intestines in the past week that she feels she could be well placed for a fast-track course in medicine. The first of her ‘patients’ called in with ‘a quick question.’ When Mandy asked how she could help, the client lifted her top to reveal a spotty midriff.“I’ve got shingles,” she said, “but I wanted you to check them and let me know if I’m fit to fly.”
Mandy is not often lost for words, but she assures me that she was truly stumped. “Apart from anything else,” she told me, “I was fixating on her navel. Why do women of a certain age and weight do that piercing thing?”
Later, a client asked for advice on his constipation. “I’m scared to take anything in case I cause a problem for the other passengers on the plane,” he explained. A brownie point for considering other people, I think!
Mandy and her colleagues must seem authoritative, compassionate and good with needles, because another chap called in and made himself comfortable on the leather sofa they have in the office. He’d been there for 10 minutes flicking through brochures before looking up and asking: “This is the doctor’s surgery, isn’t it?”
To which Mandy replied: “This won’t hurt, I promise. Bend over!”
He did the sensible thing and fled.
Here in Gillingham, we too had a medical issue to deal with. A client came in for some cruise information; “I want a cruise,” she announced, “but I’m allergic to Oriana!”
“I’m sure there are drops you can get for that,” I smiled.
Different strokes
The week was brightened for me by a visit from Len Jones, a travel consultant whose career in the industry spans more than four decades. Much of Len’s travel career was spent working for British Airways in reservations, as cabin crew and at Manchester Airport.He popped in on his way to visit friends in Weymouth and we recalled some of the fun times we’d had, with Len reminding me of the ‘stroking’ course we’d both done, years ago. Before you get aerated, it was perfectly innocent – there are ‘good strokes’ where the manager praises the clerk, ‘bad strokes’ where they identify the problem and ‘no strokes’ where the manager doesn’t bother to address the staff at all.
I commented that at my time of life, the only strokes that worry me are the ones that finish you off!
Maureen Hill works at Travel Angels, Gillingham, Dorset
