Jump to content

Few stitches

Rate this topic


turkaholic

Recommended Posts

Been reliving a recent Tarpon hunting trip to the keys. I have just received my current bill for 5 stitches at Fishermans Memorial hospital. The bill was just shy of $2000 bucks. More than my plane fare and hotel for a week. I'm posting this because it got me thinking about traveling alone as I  usually do.   I made a mistake while wade fishing and punctured my right palm on a mangrove branch. What concerns me now is how unprepared I was for this. My first aid was safely kept in my hotel room 30 miles away of course. As I looked at my hand I knew I was in trouble.  I was not even sure where the closest hospital was.  I had nothing in my rental car except fishing tackle and some drinks. My fly line was half in the bushes and half on shore, my gear was all over. I had hurriedly gathered my stuff before my hand started to really bleed as it was pretty deep. All I could find was a paper bag,  so I stuck my hand in it and steamed towards Marathon. I was so pissed at myself but needed to find a hospital fast. My car looked like a murder scene. Got to the hospital and walked into the ER with my bloody bag dripping everywhere.  First thing they asked for was my ID. Back out to the car still bleeding like a stuck pig. Got my hand fixed up and a tetnis shot and I was off.  The problem for me now was how was I going to still fish the last 3 days I had booked on my Tarpon charters.  As the novocaine wore off I needed to find out if I could still cast. I drove to a spot and whipped out some casts and figured I could do it. My wound was high enough on my palm to seat my fly rod pretty well. I put a glove on my hand and it behaved well. I still managed 3 more full days on the bow and managed some decent fish.   The moral of this story next time I  will be more prepared for the unseen,especially if all you have is yourself to count on. I can only imagine if I was out on the kayak and this happened.  Shark bait for sure. What an awesome adventure just can't wait for more. 

 

 

 

 

20220510_162309.jpg

20220510_123857.jpg

20220512_125948.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20220512_150513.jpg.194ace4f5ccb94981c0c33c89b80f540.jpg

3 hours ago, 55555s said:

Glad it worked out (sort of). 

 

Good advice to keep a "go bag" of essentials in your car/rental. 

 

Whats the story behind the boat?

That was unreal. That boat from Cuba appeared in my wade spot. I was called out of the water by 2 officers responding to a migrant landing.  They chuckled and said no migrant has a $ 1000 fishing pole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good cautionary tale! Solo travel comes with a risk/reward balance. That’s a nice flapper in the meaty part. Bet it hurt awhile.

First Aid 101: Pressure around the wound until it smarts, to totally stop the blood flow, irrigate with something sterile if you can, wrap it up and get to civilization. It helps to have pain meds, but not strong enough to disorient you if you’re walking out yourself. 
  As you mentioned having none of that, sounds like a stressful trudge back to the car. Wonder if other fishermen saw the blood trail and what their reaction might’ve been!

Winter is Coming! Get to the Beach!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, its but a mere flesh wound.

 

in all seriousness, ive been cut in the salt pretty good. What i found interesting is I couldn’t stop the bleeding as long as i kept fishing and hitting it with the salt water. I clot well, but the bleeding only stopped at my camper when i washed it out with fresh water.

I'll ignore your cheap aroma,

and your little-bo-peep diploma,

I'll just put you in a coma,

with some dirty love-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 mins ago, Buckscorider said:

Ouch! Glad it turned out OK for the most part.

 

I tossed one of this into my truck kit and my boat bag recently.

 

Your story makes me think I need one in my pocket?!!

 

Screenshot_20220807-192713_Amazon Shopping.jpg

I like it!

I'll ignore your cheap aroma,

and your little-bo-peep diploma,

I'll just put you in a coma,

with some dirty love-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to register here in order to participate.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...