I know it’s inevitable that this story will soon get out, so I figured I better tell it from my perspective. : )
Our kombi was running out of gas yesterday, and was just about to die as we passed by some security guards. I was thinking that we should just stop and recruit their help before we got too far past them as we slowly puttered further and further away from them in our dying kombi. When my friend Myles suggested jumping out of the kombi to the general audience of kombi passengers (apparently directed only to the guys), I immediately decided that was the solution, slid open the side door of the kombi, and jumped out. I jumped out of a kombi moving 21 km/hr. From what I hear, I bounced, then ended up partially under the road guard on the side of the bridge we had just crossed. Bry says I was “eating asphalt.” My wooden bracelet banged against the concrete producing a sound my team thought came from my chin hitting the pavement. Don’t worry, it wasn’t. From my perception, the pain was quite tolerable, and I proceeded to hop up and run back about half a mile to get the security guards’ help, according to plan. From my team’s perception, I had just jumped out of a moving kombi, bounced and rolled, then instantly hopped up and began running in the Opposite direction. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to verbalize any of my aforementioned thoughts to my team and they knew nothing of my plan to jump out and run back for the security guards.
After a conversation in broken siSwanglish, full of dramatic gestures, I managed to communicate that our kombi was out of gas and was broken down a ways up the road. Following my cue, the security guards took off running down the road the direction of our kombi. After arriving at our kombi, the security guards waved down a truck and explained the situation to the driver, who took a few of our teammates to buy gas. Success! Mission accomplished. And it only cost me minimal road rash to my right elbow and hip. : )
P.S. Really, I’m fine. Please don’t be concerned. I did, however, secure my ownership of “suffering most injuries” on our team. ; )
