What Is Happening With Right to Write?

After our accident last October we were left with some very difficult decisions. One obvious one was where do we take Right to Write now?

Last month we decided to sail the boat from Malaysia to Canada via Japan where we will pick up crew to help us sail the boat some 4000 nautical miles across the North Pacific.  Before leaving Malaysia we took about 1000 pencil cases and school supplies and asked half a dozen cruisers who were heading to islands in and around Indonesia, Malaysia, and The Philippines to take what we had on board Blowin Bubbles and give it away as they found people in need.

The only stipulation was that we asked them to send us pictures and stories as they gave the school supplies and reading glasses away.

That was a few weeks ago, and we are just getting to Japan now.  We have not yet heard from any of the cruisers but as soon as we do we will post their stories here.

We are returning to Canada to get more medical care and to figure out a way we can continue our ministry.  We are NOT GIVING UP!

We will hopefully be in a place in the next year where we can leave again and keep our work going.  As frustrating as it has been, we have learnt so much about people’s love in this difficult time.  We will keep everyone up to date here on the blog.

Blessings,
Kyle & Shelley

Finally.... An Update and Huge Thank You!

Saturday marked then one month anniversary from the event that has changed our lives.

On the 24 of October we had an appointment to pick up our passports and extended visas to spend an additional 30 days in Indonesia. Blowin Bubbles was anchored in a bay at the northwest corner of Belitung Island. We rented a motorcycle to make the 20 mile (each way) trip to the immigration office. As cars are very scarce on these little islands and there were no taxis.

On our way back we entered into an unmarked construction area and encountered some loose gravel on the road. We were doing between 40 and 50 kilometers per hour when we slid a little. On its own it would have been a small problem, however they had dug out the side of the road where the shoulder should have been, we fell down a 30 cm drop before we lost control and came to a sudden stop in the ditch. We were wearing pants and full face helmets.

I have very little memory of the next while, except that I remember that I could not breath! A stranger in a pickup truck picked Shelley and I up and drove as quickly as he could to the local “hospital”, which turned out to be not much more than a clinic.

While it had an X-ray machine and a used cat scanner, there was no surgeon or operating facilities.

Shelley was diagnosed with a concussion and they eventually figured out I had broken my collarbone, my scapula, and they thought I might have 4 broken ribs.

My real problem was that I could not catch my breath. They eventually figured out that my lung had collapsed and that I also had a pneumothorax... they had no chest tubes, so modified an NG tube and taped it into a sterile water container.

All this was enough for me to be air evacuated to Singapore where I could be properly cared for. The small island had no lights at the airport so they would not allow the air ambulance to land that night. The next morning they told them a commercial flight was coming in and it would have to wait another couple hours !

In that time we had racked up about $3000 in bills. The hospital in Indonesia would not release Shelley until we paid what we owed in cash. They would not accept a credit card or the word of our insurance. They would not allow her to come with me. Thus I was flown out and Shelley had to go from cash machine to cash machine until she was able to get enough to cover the bill. Many of the machines would not accept our out of country cards. And when they did there were limits on how much you could withdraw. Working with a concussion and worried about me now in another country this was trying. The hospital made a local man leave his identification at the hospital and be responsible for our bill if Shelley did not return with the money. After the bill was finally paid, Shelley took a commercial flight to Singapore.

My medical flight took forever. First we could not check out with immigration on the island we were on. I have no idea why. So they stopped at another island in indonesia to do this. Then Singapore would not allow the Indonesian plane to land for reasons unknown to me, so we had to land in Malaysia and the hospital sent a road ambulance across the border to get me and bring me to Singapore. All this time with the NG tube in my chest, a lung full of blood and only socks on as they had cut off my clothes after the accident.

 

The doctor and nurse who escorted me from Indonesia to Singapore

After finally arriving at the Farrer Hospital which was chosen by our travel insurance company, we were told we would have to pay $9700 for a one week stay plus about $30000 for the surgery. Our insurance limit was $27000 so we would only end up being about $10000 short. With the amazing response from family and friends we had raised $10000 with our “go fund me”. So we thought we would be alright on that end.

Upon initial evaluation in Singapore in medical terms I was diagnosed with 6 posterior rib fractions (with 4 being displaced) 3 with additional anterolateral fractures, left scapula fracture, left clavicular displaced fracture mid to lateral third, left haemothorax and subcutaneous emphysema and pneumonia-mediastinum. Also a splenic infra-capsular haematoma.

In normal language...The next day I had two titanium plates on my scapula and a bunch of screws in my collarbone. They also operated on my left lung and removed over 600 ml of blood from it. They also discovered damage to my spleen which was contained within the spleen itself. Lastly, they identified 7 broken ribs. Shelley arrived and found me in ICU. After talking to her for a few minutes the nurses sent her downstairs to have an MRI to confirm the Indonesian diagnosis of a concussion. And have her stitches removed. She continues to have very dizzy spells and nausea, but is superhuman and continues to care for me.

The next day I was moved out of ICU. This was also the day they told us our bill was now over $78000! We were floored? What happened? How could they have got that so wrong? Frightened and a long way from home I was kept in the hospital a couple more days, until they thought I might not die, then I was released. Since we were at the end of our insurance limit, to say the least, they released me even though the day before they said I need 7 more days hospitalization. I still had a chest tube in, I had not yet eaten solid food and had barely walked a few meters. But without money to pay further hospital time we could not argue about it with them. Upon leaving the hospital Shelley cared for me in a small hotel room until the chest tube was taken out and we could be cleared to fly. The hotel maid was really sweet and found us as many spare pillows as she could so we could make a make shift hospital bed as I could not lay flat or sit up. They also brought a little refrigerator to our room. Airlines require a chest injury to be “healed” for a minimum 2 weeks before being considered to fly. So once the chest tube was finally removed we still had to wait in a cheap hotel room for clearance.

In the mean time some great friends pitched in and got Blowin Bubbles from Indonesia and safely docked in Malaysia, where she is today. THANK YOU so much to Sean from SV Chevaldy, and Kellie who flew all the way from Australia to sail her to safety.

We had a number of appointments with our doctors as out patients. Even though we had a horrible experience with the hospital, the Singapore doctors went WAY beyond what could have been expected of them... and they volunteered to significantly reduce their fees for us and not charge us for appointments once we left the hospital.

Our travel insurance still had funds available to repatriate us home to Canada, so as soon as we were cleared to fly, we flew home in pods, which made the journey bearable...except when the turbulence kicked in. Twenty hours in an airplane with all the broken ribs was not easy.

We arrived in Canada last Sunday night and were told by the Singapore surgeons to get to an acute care facility as soon as possible after landing, which we did. We arrived at London Hospital around 11 pm and did not have the best experience we could have hoped for.

It turns out the doctors here are reluctant to aggressively repair my 8 (yes, now it’s 8) broken ribs. They also don’t want to repair my leaky spline. All they want to do is treat me with pain meds for 12 or more weeks! We see our family doctor this week and hope for a second opinion on the ribs after that.

We are staying with some friends at home and are looking forward to Christmas with our family and friends. As it stands now, we have spent our entire savings, but we are safe and we will be better soon. What the future will hold is anyone’s guess. Thank you to everyone who has followed and supported us through all of this...

Contributions are still be accepted through this link: Kyle andShelley - Go Fund Me!

The helpers need help

We were in an accident in Indonesia. And kyle was flown by air ambulance to Singapore for life saving surgeries Indonesia was not equipped to perform. Kyle has suffered broken collar bone, broken scapula, 7 broken ribs, lacerated spleen and pneumothorax of the left lung. Likely punctured by a rib. They drained 600 ml of blood from the lung and he currently has a chest tube still draining. But little improvements every day.
In comparison my injuries were more mild. I have concussion and some stitches but otherwise okay.
As you can imagine air ambulance and foreign hospital bills have mounted. Our insurance has reached their limit and the shortfall will be approximately $40000 SGD as he still will need more scans and chest tube extraction. Plus hotel bills etc to stay near hospital.
We had a couple woundeful friends who flew to Indonesia and sailed Blowin Bubbles to a marina just across the river in Malaysia. We cannot afford to bring her to Singapore. But she is safe and close by.
 I know this blog reaches many people and if you can share it again that will be even more people.
Thank you for all your support.
We look forward to mending and continuing our work with right to write ministry in the future!
https://www.gofundme.com/recovery-for-kyle-and-shelley

Indonesia - First School Stop

After getting supplied in Fiji and Paupa New Guinea we set sail through the Torres Strait just above Australia. We arrived in Tual, Indonesia and after a day long check in procedure, we got ready to make our way west through some of the less travelled places in Indonesia.

After a boisterous overnight sail, we arrived at a small village called Tutumental.  We met the teacher on our first trip to shore and learned that he was the only person in the village who spoke English.

We arranged to bring supplies to his 50 students the next day and went back to the boat to put everything together.  The next afternoon we took our tender to shore to discover that the town was covered in bright flags and banners.  This can't be for us we thought....  And we were correct.  We learned that an important official was coming for a visit this day and that the children had been taken out of school and were performing for him...

Not too discouraged we found Hendric (the teacher) and left him with 50 sets of pencil cases and a soccer ball.  We did see all the children dressed up for the dignitary and eventually saw his boat entourage arrive (3 hours late)...

The village school

Hendric and their new school supplies!

 

From here we stopped a few times and gave small gifts to passing fishing families.  This is also the first tme we gave local families reading glasses!  We are still learning how to properly give these glasses away, as the locals are under the mistaken impression that the stronger the glasses, the better they are....  We will figure this out as we go along...

We have more about our personal lives at www.benger.blogspot.com. 

Blessings

Getting Ready to Go!

We are also very happy to say that we have partnered with the Sea Mercy Organization and will be distributing reading glasses along with oour school supplies...  This is very exciting!

We found some great coloured pencils and have ordered another 500 pencil cases.  This, along with all the stuff we brought with us from Canada should see us through at least another 500 children.

Notice the packaging (in the bag on the left) is bigger than the pencils themselves!

More soon...

THANK YOU CANADA!

After a few weeks back in Canada we have raised enough money to keep our work going.  We spoke at two churches and a seniors home and loved every minute of it.  We will be buying more supplies when we get to Fiji.

If you still want to donate, you can use the donate button here on the blog, or send a cheque to:

The Right to Write Ministry
c/o 100 Barnet  Cr.
Fergus, Ontario
Canada N1M 3E5

Our good friend, Dana helping sell shell necklaces....

God Bless...

Abaiang, Kiribati

Abaiang is 30 nautical miles north of Tarawa in Kiribati but a WORLD away!  Folks here still live in a very traditional way.  there are very few cinder block buildings and NO ONE walks by with saying  "Mauri", which means literally, "you be well".  This is a greeting that these people really mean.

We visited a primary school that day we arrived and checked in and asked if we could come by the next day to bring some school supplies....  The next day came and we were greeted by an assembly of all 130 children, all the teachers and even a visit from the island school superintendent!

This is one of the classrooms.

The children sang and danced for us and after we gave each child their pencil case we were fed an incredible lunch.  When lunch was over it took 9 BOYS to carry the gifts of food they gave us!  From coconuts to Pandanus fruit, we feel like we received MUCH MORE than we gave....