Sunday, November 15th was an exciting day for many reasons. We had already welcomed a team of missionaries from McKinney, TX and another from Knoxville, TN. We went to the airport on Sunday to pick up our dear friend Chris Phifer, who was arriving for her second trip in 2015. We got to the airport with no traffic. Chris arrived and got her luggage with no delays. We stopped in the city to get an early dinner. Then we headed home.
Twice a week, Troy and Tyler lead all of our boarding boys in a game of Commando from 8-9pm (think similar to capture the flag or some other outdoor game. They have 2 teams, it's dark outside, and the team that finds the other team is the winner). Sunday is one of their regularly scheduled days for this game. Unfortunately, it is rainy season and this particular Sunday evening a heavy shower was coming down. The boys went over to the dorm with a deck of cards, figuring they'd play a game inside or find something to do. Chris and I were sitting in the living room. Frank had arrived with a delivery just before the downpour, so he was now sitting in the living room waiting for a boda to arrive to take him home (he was leaving the big truck because he had to drive the van for the teams all week).
Suddenly, I heard banging at the door and looked up to see Makline and Rose (2 of our staff). I instantly knew something must be wrong because Ugandans generally do not go out in the rain, especially in a downpour like this one. We had latched the door shut because of the strong wind, so it took me long moment to get the door open. As I was trying to unlatch it, I could see Makline and Rose getting more panicked. By the time the door opened, they were just yelling, "you come, come and see." I didn't know what I was going to see but I knew something was wrong. I kicked off my flip flops because I knew I couldn't run in the rain with them on. Fortunately, my rain coat was draped right next to the door, so I just grabbed it and ran with them.
As we ran, I was asking what was wrong. At this point, I heard, "you come and see Troy," followed by, "I tried to wake him."
So, I'm immediately running thoughts through my head. What do you mean see him, you tried to wake him. I asked, "is he unconscious? where is he?" but nothing was making sense. Just as we crossed the road and were reaching the dormitories, I could make out the form of Grace with Troy draped over her shoulder. She was trying to run and sort of dragging him along with her. She was clearly panicked and trying to bring him to the house. As we got closer to each other, I could see that he was awake but looked very dazed and confused.
We got him to the house and Grace began removing his soaking wet shirts (t-shirt with a sweatshirt over). Makline and Grace were both excitedly sharing what they knew. Apparently, Makline was the first to see Troy. He was lying face down on the ground and not moving. She couldn't get him to respond, so she came running for help. Rose saw Makline running and joined her, asking what was wrong. Makline explained as they ran to the house. In the meantime, Grace heard several of the boarding students screaming and crying, so she came out of her room to find out why. They were pointing and yelling to Troy. She ran over to him and found that he was awake, but lying face down on the ground. It had been raining for a long time, so water was pouring down from the path just ahead of him. She thought he was going to drown in the flood of water. Since he was responding at that point, she got him up and was running to the house. We met her on the path just moments after she got him up.
Now, Troy was finally getting a little more clarity in his mind and could start to recall a bit of what happened. It seems that he was heading home from the dorm and tripped on something (he described it as tripping over a root). When he tripped, he hit the ground pretty hard. He says that he stood up once but fell back down. We can't confirm that. He also remembers lying on the ground and realizing that he was there but not being able to breath, or to move or get up.
So, our theory is that when he hit the ground, his wind was knocked out. This caused him to feel like he couldn't breath and he couldn't move. We checked him for any signs of a head wound or other problems and found nothing. After he changed out of his soaking pants and sat around for a short while, we let him go to bed. The next morning he was completely fine. As soon as I exited the house in the morning, the children that saw me said, "Auntie, how is Troy?" I told them that he was great; that there was no problem. I talked to Makline and she told me that all of the children were very worried. I knew they needed to get focused on their school work and wanted to put their mind at ease, so I visited each classroom and let all the kids know that Troy was great. That there was no problem. I also tried to explain to them what happened, but that was a little more difficult for them to understand.
I think it is safe to say that Troy won't be running in the rain in the dark any time soon. Needless to say it was a scary situation, especially for our Ugandan friends. They have experienced more suffering than most of us and are more aware of how simple things like a storm can become deadly. We are grateful for these women who took action to help Troy so quickly. We are also grateful for our little community!
Twice a week, Troy and Tyler lead all of our boarding boys in a game of Commando from 8-9pm (think similar to capture the flag or some other outdoor game. They have 2 teams, it's dark outside, and the team that finds the other team is the winner). Sunday is one of their regularly scheduled days for this game. Unfortunately, it is rainy season and this particular Sunday evening a heavy shower was coming down. The boys went over to the dorm with a deck of cards, figuring they'd play a game inside or find something to do. Chris and I were sitting in the living room. Frank had arrived with a delivery just before the downpour, so he was now sitting in the living room waiting for a boda to arrive to take him home (he was leaving the big truck because he had to drive the van for the teams all week).
Suddenly, I heard banging at the door and looked up to see Makline and Rose (2 of our staff). I instantly knew something must be wrong because Ugandans generally do not go out in the rain, especially in a downpour like this one. We had latched the door shut because of the strong wind, so it took me long moment to get the door open. As I was trying to unlatch it, I could see Makline and Rose getting more panicked. By the time the door opened, they were just yelling, "you come, come and see." I didn't know what I was going to see but I knew something was wrong. I kicked off my flip flops because I knew I couldn't run in the rain with them on. Fortunately, my rain coat was draped right next to the door, so I just grabbed it and ran with them.
As we ran, I was asking what was wrong. At this point, I heard, "you come and see Troy," followed by, "I tried to wake him."
So, I'm immediately running thoughts through my head. What do you mean see him, you tried to wake him. I asked, "is he unconscious? where is he?" but nothing was making sense. Just as we crossed the road and were reaching the dormitories, I could make out the form of Grace with Troy draped over her shoulder. She was trying to run and sort of dragging him along with her. She was clearly panicked and trying to bring him to the house. As we got closer to each other, I could see that he was awake but looked very dazed and confused.
We got him to the house and Grace began removing his soaking wet shirts (t-shirt with a sweatshirt over). Makline and Grace were both excitedly sharing what they knew. Apparently, Makline was the first to see Troy. He was lying face down on the ground and not moving. She couldn't get him to respond, so she came running for help. Rose saw Makline running and joined her, asking what was wrong. Makline explained as they ran to the house. In the meantime, Grace heard several of the boarding students screaming and crying, so she came out of her room to find out why. They were pointing and yelling to Troy. She ran over to him and found that he was awake, but lying face down on the ground. It had been raining for a long time, so water was pouring down from the path just ahead of him. She thought he was going to drown in the flood of water. Since he was responding at that point, she got him up and was running to the house. We met her on the path just moments after she got him up.
Now, Troy was finally getting a little more clarity in his mind and could start to recall a bit of what happened. It seems that he was heading home from the dorm and tripped on something (he described it as tripping over a root). When he tripped, he hit the ground pretty hard. He says that he stood up once but fell back down. We can't confirm that. He also remembers lying on the ground and realizing that he was there but not being able to breath, or to move or get up.
So, our theory is that when he hit the ground, his wind was knocked out. This caused him to feel like he couldn't breath and he couldn't move. We checked him for any signs of a head wound or other problems and found nothing. After he changed out of his soaking pants and sat around for a short while, we let him go to bed. The next morning he was completely fine. As soon as I exited the house in the morning, the children that saw me said, "Auntie, how is Troy?" I told them that he was great; that there was no problem. I talked to Makline and she told me that all of the children were very worried. I knew they needed to get focused on their school work and wanted to put their mind at ease, so I visited each classroom and let all the kids know that Troy was great. That there was no problem. I also tried to explain to them what happened, but that was a little more difficult for them to understand.
I think it is safe to say that Troy won't be running in the rain in the dark any time soon. Needless to say it was a scary situation, especially for our Ugandan friends. They have experienced more suffering than most of us and are more aware of how simple things like a storm can become deadly. We are grateful for these women who took action to help Troy so quickly. We are also grateful for our little community!
Praising God that he is okay!
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