Day 39 Thursday 20th December
Down to the ground in pain in agony…
Position: S86, W086.
Temperature: -14c
Weather: white out, no contrast/ bad visibility.
Distance; 3km stopped due to back injury.
750 km complete. 389km to go;
Camp Norway – to Rolf, David and Bjorn.
Down to the ground in pain in agony…
We had just set off for another day in the freezer; conditions on the ice were good although it was another day of no visibility and traveling in white out conditions. We were excited at the thought of getting a further 25-27 kms toward the pole. I had just gone ahead of Clare, Shaun and Jon to film them pulling their sleds. When they passed me, I turned to follow and as I did so, got a shooting pain down my back/buttocks and fell to the ground in agonizing pain. At this stage, the others were over 50 meters ahead and I knew if I didn’t move I’d loose them in the white out. They were too far ahead to shout at and were moving fast, so I needed to catch up with them before losing them in the white out. They were unaware anything was wrong behind and there was no reason to suspect there was a problem. I knew they would just assume I was following. Every few steps, I’d fall to the ground in pain; I was in agony. Eventually Clare stopped to check the bearing and as she did, Jon looked back and could see I was in some sort of trouble. They waited for me to catch up. I knew from the pain, I had trapped or twisted a nerve. Clare gave me an anti-inflammatory (diclofenac) tablet to relieve the pain.
Clare, Shaun and Jon distributed some of my sled weight to lighten my load as I wanted to try and continue. We pushed on for another half an hour, but the pain was so severe that I had to stop; eventually, after an hour and a half, we called it a day. I felt so guilty at having to make camp after covering only 3 km, but if we continued and the problem got worse, I could put the whole expedition at risk. So for now, I’m been treated by Clare with more powerful drugs. To date, this has been my worst day. In 39 days of hauling we’ve covered 751km from the coast; now a simple twist has me grounded with still 389km to go to the pole. Today we will treat the pain and hopefully continue tomorrow.
Dr Clare O Leary’s report;
Progress has been slower than we would like over the last 10 days; our hope for an improvement in the weather was shattered yesterday when after just 2 clear hours, we were quickly encased in cloud and spent the remainder of the day again in white out.
This morning looked no better, but as we started out, I noticed the snow conditions were much better – not only that, but there was just enough contrast to navigate without having to rely on the person behind. I figured we would do 27km in these conditions… Suddenly I heard a shout – I looked back and could see Pat had fallen behind. We waited and when he caught up, he said he’d pulled his back; I knew this would be a problem. – I gave him an anti-inflammatory and we decided to take turns hauling his sled; Jon took it first. Within 20 minutes we were stopped again. Pat was in a lot of pain. He lay on the snow to try and stretch it out and we distributed the contents of his sled.
We moved for another 20-30 minutes but Pat was still struggling. I gave him an injection of diclofenac but realised it would be a mistake to let him pull anything – not looking after this immediately could have more serious longer term implications. I suggested putting up the tent so that at least he could rest. He seemed relieved though reluctant; but I knew it was the right decision. We’ve used everything we have here, medication – wise and homeopathy wise. Jon has massaged it and he’s been doing gentle stretching exercises. After the time we’ve had, it’s disappointing not to be making progress today, but we didn’t have a choice. We have a limited food / fuel supply and this is our main concern at this point. Fingers crossed the rest / meds will sort out Pat’s back. I don’t think hauling a 90kg sled is part of the treatment programme for any kind of back pain! The plan is to share his load between the 3 of us for the next few days until he’s back on track.
Shaun/Jons blogs;
Both Shaun and Jon have been keeping personal blogs on this trip; due to a problem with the date, these dispatches have not been posted. They have now realised and corrected the problem and both sites are updated. Shaun’s blog can be read at www.polarblogger.com and Jon’s at www.cantbeassed.com.
Expedition life is a hard one, a simple mistake or injury can an affect your expedition. Just like what happened today. I just hope tomorrow I feel better.
Forward to the South Pole.
Camp Norway: This camp is dedicated to our Norwegian friends who have trained us in the skills required to undertake this mammoth challenge. To Rolf Bae, David Bolger and Bjørn, Sekkesæter, thank you.
