We LOVE(d) Montreal. The food, the culture, the language, the history, etc. Sure, we were snowed in at the airport once for 7 hours. Sure, we almost got diverted due to a freak rainstorm another time, but it is Montreal. And when my wife and I decided to take a romantic get away, we knew where we wanted to go. It was the summer. What could go wrong?
We checked out of our hotel after a glorious week in Montreal and had five hours to kill before heading to the airport, so we decided to walk to a museum gift store about 20 minutes away to buy a few souvenirs. About 5 minutes into our walk, B tripped on some uneven pavement and fell.
When she had trouble getting to her feet, we called an Uber to take us back to our hotel. When she was in so much pain that the Uber driver had to carry her into the back of the car, we asked him to reroute to a hospital. In the back of the car, B told me she thought she broke her leg. The car pulled up and our driver ran in and got B a wheelchair and moved her into it. Thanking him and reminding myself to tip him well, I wheeled B into the hospital.
We ended up at the main and deserted entrance to the hospital, and all the signs were in French. We were able to work out that "Urgence" was in the basement, and after a little wait and a lot of patience with our French, the hospital was able to admit B in Emergency. After looking at the x-ray, the Emergency doctor confirmed that B broke her hip, and that she would be operated on sometime this week, and recovery would be at least a month. It was a lot to process: B's pain, a broken bone, surgery, staying in Montreal a month, missing the start of school, etc. All we could ask was, "I guess we are not getting on our plane today?"
Here is how things actually played out: B was operated on the next day and admitted to a room in the orthopedic wing. The day after that, B received some physio and I went out to buy her a walker. The hospital wanted to release B later that day, but they didn't realize we were from out of province. We also wanted to know more about a complication that occurred during surgery because it was going to affect her recovery. The next day, the surgeon explained to us what had happened during surgery and that B could only put 50% weight on that leg until the bone healed. We were then released. A cab took us to an airport hotel. On-line we miraculously found and booked two bulkhead seats on a flight that was leaving the next day! As the Uber driver was driving us to the airport, we were telling him about our experience, and he said, "I think God is telling you not to come to Montreal."
No Thanks to:
- unnamed Insurance company. I bought cancellation insurance, only to be told after, the insurance I bought (the only one offered) was valid up until the occurrence of the first flight, and did not cover trip extension.
- unnamed airport hotel. Painters banging at 6:30 am, and how can you screw up French pancakes in Quebec?
Thanks to:
- Terence, the Uber driver who picked B off the sidewalk.
- Inter-province medical. After signing a form at Admitting, we haven't received a medical bill for anything.
- Le Petit Hotel. We had a wonderful stay there for the first 7 days of our trip, then they stored our luggage for us after we checked out and while B was in the hospital.
- Smartphones. While B was in the hospital, I had no where to stay. (We checked out of Le Petit Hotel, remember?) I kept having to move hotels because of availability, location, and accessibility. Luckily, with my phone, I was able to find a place, book it, then navigate to and from it. I stayed in 3 different places in 4 days. My phone also helped me with transportation, translation from French, food (all good except the tortellini disguised as wonton), pharmacies, the walker, and communication with friends and family.
- Remi. Remember my principal who moved to Quebec? Somehow he found out about B's injury and got in touch. It was great having him as a go-to in case our French or Google Translate failed.
- Air Canada. Yes, Air Canada. When we got to the long regular check-in line for the flight home, the Air Canada associate took one look at hobbling B and redirected us to Accessibility Services. The associate there took our luggage, then got us an accessibility rolling chair for B that would hold our carry-on and her walker. The special chair got us to the front of the hour long security line up. There was accessibility seating at the gate. When our flight was called, we got on first as two big guys used a special skinny rolling chair to lift B into the plane and to her seat. The bulkhead seats were perfect: lots of leg room, near the bathroom, and B was protected from traffic up and down the aisles and no one had to pass in front of her to get to the aisle. Two different guys picked B up and got her out of the plane.
- JetSet Parking. When they heard about B's hip surgery, they parked our car right by the exit doors.
- Friends and family who dropped off food, flowers, cards and well wishes.
The MVP in all this (besides B):
- Kevin. When he heard about B's hip, he asked what could he do. When we came home, Kevin had installed a second very hefty hand rail so B could sleep in her own bed upstairs. It was a game changer. Even before our trip, Kevin had offered to renovate our bathtub that we had not used in four years because of an intermittent leak that would drip into the light fixture below. We took B's hip as a sign that we needed a walk-in shower. Kevin ended up renovating the whole room: new shower, rerouting the plumbing, re-drywalling the walls and ceiling, tiling the floor and the shower, new fan and light fixtures, new vanity, new toilet, and then painting. It was amazing what he did and he spent so much time away from his family. We are so grateful for his expertise and his friendship.
The experience we had was a roller coaster, full of unexpected twists and turns. It definitely made us rethink the way we look at accessibility, sidewalks, and Montreal.
