Third-Degree Burns. Ouch.
Bribie Island, 7th to 8th February 20021
Yesterday, completely by chance, we had picked the best spot on the
beach. There was a small patrolled beach a bit further along, but
the whole beach is very safe so there are no worries if you go
somewhere outside of the patrolled area. We spent the whole
afternoon from 12 until 5pm on the beach, swimming in the waves,
riding the surf with the boogie boards and lying in the sun.
We bought some snacky foods from the supermarket so we could have a
mini-picnic on the beach. Josh really wanted to buy a huge tub of
chocolate-chip ice-cream. He thought we could eat all the ice-cream
then use the tub to build sand castles. In the end, as we expected,
we had half a tub of melted, gooey ice-cream that had to be binned.
The ants had a feast that night!
Late in the afternoon, we took a wander down to the shops to buy a
drink and a beach ball. We thought we'd do what a lot of Australians
do and walk bare feet. BIG mistake! The soles of our untrained
English feet aren't used to scalding hot pavements. The sun had been
steadily heating the ground all day. Josh, with his Hobbit feet,
could walk along the pavement fine. I took one step from the grass
field to the stone pavement and jumped back, yelping in pain. The
whole journey then consisted of me running from grass patch to grass
patch. Stopping at each one to psyche myself up for the next run
across the boiling hot tarmac.
Eventually we reached the shops and a much needed drink was bought.
Luckily we found an alternative route to the beach which only
involved one short dash across hot tarmac.
Embarrassingly, just after I blew up the beach ball, it slipped out
my hand and rolled away. The wind was strong enough to keep it
rolling, so as I ran after it, it just got faster and faster. As I
tried to keep up with it, the soft sand made it REALLY difficult to
run. Eventually, I ran out of breath and it rolled off into the
distance. Luckily, a guy on the beach managed to stop it for me.
At about 5pm, the sun started to set and a cold breeze set in, so we
decided to call it a day.
Later that evening, as we went to bed, we thought the only problem
of the day, were the seagulls pecking at our food and leftovers
every time we went into the sea. How wrong we were.
The next morning, Josh complained of being really sore & sunburned.
The rest of us had not been affected because we'd gradually been
getting used to the sun, Josh had gone straight from -2 degrees C
(England) to 37 degrees (Australia). Thinking it was just normal
sunburn, we thought nothing more of it.
Later that evening he showed me the true extent of his burns. On his
back & shoulders were huge, yellow blisters. These burns looked bad.
He said he'd be ok if we got him some Aloe Vera cream. So we went
and bought some, and he rubbed some in.
However, the next morning he said he needed to got to the hospital.
The pain was becoming really bad. We went to the ambulance outpost
on the island and the paramedic there instantly agreed.
Stinge and I drove Josh over to Caboolture on the main land, the
closest hospital. We were told there would be a 2 hour wait, so
Stinge & I went into Caboolture town to do a few things while Josh
filled in some forms & waited.
When we returned, Josh was being seen to, so we settled in the
waiting room, reading some girly magazines. He soon came out,
cradling an armful of bandages and cream. Reluctantly, I stopped
reading the very interesting girly magazine and we drove back. Josh
explained that he did, in fact have 3rd degree burns. Nice. He'd
also had a morphine injection so he was a little bit high.
He'd been given cream and bandages that needed to be re-applied
daily. Because the burns were on his back and shoulders, Josh
couldn't do it for himself, so one of us needed to do it. When the
time came, the others were too squeamish, so I had to do it. Great
lot of use those pansies were.
For the next few nights, Josh slept uncomfortably, lying on his
back, arms crossed like a mummy.
Josh had been the one constantly telling us to use sun-block. Use
only SPF 30+ and re-apply it frequently. He forgot his own advice,
only for a few hours, but that was enough.
Everyone should know, the Australian sun is VERY strong. Prevention
is needed to stop burning, especially on pale, English skin. Have
you ever wondered why so many Australians are pale white and not
tanned? That's because they're not stupid enough to lie in the sun!
Foreigners, when in Rome, do what they do! Be sensible, don't sit in
the sun all day. And Slip (on a T-Shirt), Slap (on a hat), Slop (on
sun block)!
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