Author: annalee

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Resilience: How I came home 5 days after breaking my back in Tel Aviv, Israel

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Several weeks ago, I had an accident in Tel Aviv. This occurred five days before my scheduled flight home to Sydney. The impact of the accident left me with left side paraesthesia and a burst fracture to my spine. Where my vertebra would have once been a structured block on the CT scan, it was now an oddly shaped piece of cheddar, similar to a misplaced Jenga piece holding up the heavier top and bottom parts of a tower.

Up until this point, I had worked hard for one of three spots for Australian MBA students to attend Tel Aviv University. I was ambitious and driven. I also saw the MBA course as both an opportunity to expand my knowledge, network and visit historical sites. Nothing could have prepared me for the fall. In an instance, I went from young and healthy to lying on a hospital bed hooked to a morphine bag and unable to go to the bathroom on my own.

  1. Set yourself a goal

I remember the morning after the accident, I was jolted awake to an aggressive swish of curtains and about 5-6 interns and doctors speaking very quickly in Hebrew.

One of the doctors turned to me.

 “You are from Australia, the land of paradise? What are you doing in Israel?”

“I was testing out the strength of your pavements.”

The room laughed awkwardly, “Okay you mentioned about flying home. We are having meetings on this situation however you should consider rescheduling your flight”.  

After the doctors left, I borrowed a phone charger and called the insurance company to discuss my options to fly home. The operator advised that the airline would most likely not allow me on a flight with my medical situation. The insurance company would also need to verify my medical reports and find a Hebrew translator which they advised may take more than a week.

Suddenly I was desperate. I didn’t have any family in Israel. The thought of spending weeks lying in bed in another country was devastating. I had to go home.

Years ago, my mother had flown to Hong Kong and back for a bone marrow transplant to save her brother’s life. She had flown with holes still in her hips. As a child I had admired her resilience. Maybe it was the morphine that was triggering irrational goals in my head but that morning, I was convinced that I could still go home on day 5.

  1. Focus on small steps

My left arm was numb and tremored uncontrollably. It was even difficult to hold a sandwich. So, I started with much smaller goals. I stretched my arms lying down. I practised rolling over to my right. Progressively I made it a combo, I rolled to the right and then pulled myself up with my right arm using the rails of the bed. When I was ready, I leaned on the bed frame to stand on my feet that were still numb. Pain shot across my back and hips while the legs trembled. I cursed and swore at myself, rested and then tried again.

  1. Use humour to stay positive

My hospital neighbour was a car accident victim who suffered far greater injuries than me. We were both impacted by sudden setbacks. There were intermittent times of frustration, but we didn’t let the negative thoughts linger too long. We used humour to deal with the pain and found humour in our circumstances. This stopped me from ruminating on my own predicament and focus on going home.     

  1. Walking was an outcome of perseverance

Despite the pain, I was determined to walk unassisted. I persevered with small steps back and forth from my bed to the bathroom located two metres away. On the evening of Day 3, I put on my gym music and slowly dragged myself to the hospital corridor. I had never seen the outside of my room. The neuro ward was bright and relatively calm. It was very different from how I imagined it. One step at a time, I dragged myself along the right side of the corridor. I made it to the end and was exhausted. I waited and then tried again. My MBA coordinator stayed at the hospital with me for hours. I was sustained by her encouragement and positivity which gave me the strength to walk through the pain. I got a lot of thumbs up from the nurses passing me in the corridor as they watched me improve.   

Going home

On Day 4, I demonstrated to the doctors that I could walk, albeit with a strange gait. That evening I was discharged from hospital on the understanding that I would seek medical care in Sydney. On Day 5, I was assisted by wheelchair to the boarding gates and walked unassisted to my allocated seat on the plane. The journey was 20 hours, from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong, then from Hong Kong to Sydney. Safe to say I was very much drugged on pain medication the whole way.

From the accident to this point, I had not had any time to cry or dwell on the events that happened. My sole focus was to strengthen my legs to board the plane. When the plane landed in Sydney, I was overwhelmed with tears, I was finally home.

Finding Resilience

What I did to return home may be viewed by some (including my mum) as stupid and reckless. However, I was acting within the limits of my own body.

My mindset before and after Israel shifted. This lesson on resilience was far more valuable than the MBA course I had intended.

All of us will face setbacks at some point in our lives. I learnt that it is how we extract ourselves to move forward that is more important. The fracture to my spine was just the beginning of a very long process. I had money stolen from my suitcase at the airport while I was in a wheelchair and I have experienced a lot worse since returning from Israel. Some would say I am truly cursed. Murphy’s law has its way. I believe everything happens for a reason and that we are all unbreakable. It was a glimmer of hope, perseverance and a lot of humour and compassion from the people around me that guided me to overcome my nightmare and return home.

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6 Things I learned When I Broke My Back in Israel

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I broke my back in Israel several weeks ago. When we plan for holidays we often focus on flights, accommodation and things to do. Often, we don’t think about medical assistance for emergencies. This is my personal story and what I have learned from this nightmare experience.

The Accident

When I felt the hard thud of my back hit the concrete beneath me it was too late. I had fallen very awkwardly. My legs suddenly felt weak. I was dizzy and gasping from the impact as each breath triggered more pain internally. Lying on the ground in agony, I looked up at the faces that circled above me offering help.

“I’m okay, I’m okay, I can walk it off” I muttered repeatedly. Instinctively I was washed with embarrassment, but it was more complex than that.

It was one of those rare moments when you realise you are that tourist that is making a spectacle and you can’t easily move away from the attention.

That morning I had strolled from the Dizengoff Center to the Tel Aviv promenade. Later I had planned to try the famous sabich, a pita stuffed with fried eggplant that the local students had highly recommended.

I worked hard to earn one of three spots allocated for Australian MBA students to study in Israel. I had already finished a fascinating year in my new role at work and relocated between Sydney and Brisbane. Up until this point I’d successfully travelled to many countries alone. In this instance, a crushing fear set in that I would lose everything and become immobile and irrelevant.

I knew I could not lie there hoping to disappear. I was very far from home, repatriation would be too costly, I had to get up. My limbs were numb but usable. So, after a few attempts of rolling over, I was cautiously helped onto a bench.

The Hospital

My MBA coordinator rushed to see me. We went to an emergency clinic first, where I was assessed and admitted to hospital.

The next few hours were harrowing. My accident happened on a Friday, a few hours before Shabbat the Jewish day of rest, so I later learnt that the specialists required for my specific injuries were not available until Sunday. The emergency room was urban, noisy and crowded with patients lined along the corridors on any available chairs waiting for medical attention. I remember the dimly lit corridors and the shades of off green uniforms rushing from one curtain to another.

Since I was still relatively conscious, the triage system did not work in my favour. Equally puzzled, I lay there watching patients down burgers or take hospital selfies while I was in dire need of medical assistance. My mistake, I was too calm at triage.

Above all else, I felt terrible for my MBA coordinator who spent her Friday night calling the university, pacing up and down requesting for a doctor and humouring me with continuous conversation to distract me from the pain. This was way beyond her job but she never left me. At some point after my first CT I saw the medical staff’s expression change from indifference to genuine concern. I was asked to refrain from moving. I was swiftly rolled into different rooms for tests. It was then that everyone finally took it seriously. Nevertheless, it was thirteen hours from my initial accident before I was given my first dose of morphine.

Going Home

I had a burst fracture and was in neuro for 4 days before flying back to Sydney via business class (20 hours TLV-HK-SYD) to be admitted to the Royal North Shore Hospital. The medical staff had prevented any further compression to my spine and I am grateful for the professionalism and medical care in Israel.   

Spending a lot of time in hospital, I have come to terms with the accident and how lucky I am to escape with minimal impact. The accident amplified a lot of decision errors I made on the day and re-set many priorities for me. The process of re-learning to walk with the fracture or reprogramming simple tasks I previously took for granted like taking a shower independently has been truly a humbling experience.

If you’re wondering how I am doing now, I am well.

I hope to return to Israel one day to thank the people who helped me get home and to also finally try that sabich…timing really is everything.  

These are some of the lessons from Israel that resonated with me. I hope it will be helpful to you:

Lesson 1 Research your travel insurance options

The medical fees were exorbitant, I was horrified at the zeros on the hospital bill. I never prioritised travel insurance before, so I was lucky that it was included with my credit card. Nevertheless, my experience with the insurance company was more stressful than my injury. The company had no access to Hebrew translators. The paperwork required was also horrendous. Research your travel insurance options before travelling abroad.  

Lesson 2 Find a tourism medical officer

I got by on English and a few single words of Hebrew. On my third day, I discovered that the hospital had tourism medical officers. The medical officer explained the hospital discharge process and translated my concerns around flying home. More importantly, she helped me obtain the necessary paperwork in Hebrew and English required by the airport and insurance company (see Lesson 1 and 3).

Lesson 3 Try not to travel through Ben Gurion Airport unless your pain management is under control  

Unless it is necessary, try not to attempt flying home until you have adequate pain management. Ben Gurion airport is infamous for its notorious security interrogations for departing passengers. I arrived at the airport four and a half hours early accompanied by MBA students from HKUST.

The process is in three parts: security questioning then airline check in and then luggage checks. This meticulous process is to protect all passengers and the queues take hours regardless of business or economy. There were no wheelchairs available until an hour and half into the process. By the time I had completed security questioning, I was in immense pain. Despite obvious mobility issues, I had to prove to authorities that I had an injury. I still had to remove my back brace and walk through a security scanner.

Once pass the security barriers, I kept my game face on, I was fearful the airline would deem me a flight risk and refuse to let me travel home. As the plane lifted out of Tel Aviv, my spine was in agony, the physical exertion from navigating the airport had taken its toll.

Lesson 4 Medical assistance can be challenging during Shabbat

Tel Aviv is much more secular than Jerusalem however a few hours before and during Shabbat many services including restaurants, taxis and medical care are hard to come by. Shabbat begins on Friday sundown and ends at nightfall the next day.

Lesson 5 People care about you

I travelled to Israel alone but I was surrounded by caring people during the whole ordeal. I was blown away by the compassion and kindness of the people around me that were strangers before.

My MBA coordinator, who is truly remarkable, attended the hospital every day for hours. I experienced so much with her. My selfish accident took a lot of time from her work. My hospital bed neighbour offered support in the form of phone charger, coffee and humorous conversation. The kindness of MBA students that reached out and accompanied me through the airport was uplifting.

I truly believe my life is in two parts now: before and after Israel. The accident taught me a lot about empathy, human connection, and our positive actions towards others. The generosity of the people that helped me was unconditional and I will forever be grateful to them.

Lesson 6 Embrace chutzpah

In business school, many lecturers pointed to chutzpah as an attitude that propels innovation in Israel. In hospital, the medical staff speak many different languages and you are expected to ask sharp direct questions. I found the casual but blunt communication style a refreshing contrast from the indirect bedside manner in Australia, no strange avoidance of eye contact – just straight answers with good and bad news. Use chutzpah respectfully, albeit unapologetically, to participate in your medical care.

Leave me a comment of your horror travel stories or a topic you are keen for me to share in my next post.