In 2001 I was admitted to hospital: a black man, turning white, throwing up in green, and later hallucinating in orange. 

Hitting the rewind button <<

Day 1

I had eaten a lukewarm beef pie the day before and was feeling a growing stomach discomfort.

Day 2

Amidst the stomach pain and perspiration, I was woken in the night by the most intense pain I had felt in my life.  I assumed the fetal position and suddenly felt a massive explosion in my stomach.  I cried out accordingly. *(*UIIIIIIIIIHAAArrrhhhhhhhhh…ow!

Day 3

In a typical bloke’ish way, I assessed the situation, put it down to a bad experience, and was ready to move on – no more beef pies for me then!

Day 4

I wasn’t in pain but was feeling weak, uncomfortable. At 9pm I started to throw up – in green.  I began to really panic. Unable to get through to my GP, I contacted NHS Direct who after hearing my symptoms told me to call an ambulance – IMMEDIATELY!

Five hours later, I was lying in a hospital corridor on a trolley waiting to be examined by a doctor – who had just put on ‘the old Marigold Gloves.’ It turned out that my appendix had burst and my woeful assessment of the symptoms could have led to my early demise. The toxins that were in my appendix had infected my abdomen: I had peritonitis (the cause of my colourful regurgitate) and could so easily have died.

Symptoms

Just like an inflamed appendix a lot of the problems that are responsible for breaking families up, lie beneath the surface and are only brought to light when they display symptoms. If they are wrongly diagnosed, ignored, or left to chance, the inflamed situation may explode leaving behind fatalities.

When bad things happen to us, if there is no one around to help us understand or help us through the situation we try to make sense of it ourselves. If we misread the situation or are preconditioned with an inaccurate assessment of our situation, or of ourselves, we can make wrong decisions that can have painful or life-changing circumstances.

At Westminster Befriend a Family we put on our ‘marigold gloves’ and attend to those who are shunted into one of life’s corridors. We help families that are going through stressful and often debilitating situations: homelessness, abuse, depression, and poverty.

For those who are in desperate need and unable to help themselves – Every Second Counts…