A disaster of a trip to England

[DangerRuss58]

I set off for England on the 14th Sept heading for Santander and the Ferry I was looking forward to racing my car again and visiting kids and grandchildren, I managed a total of just short of 2500 miles but as what has became normal for me bad luck followed, in fact it was so bad  I doubt anyone in their right mind would believe a word of it. I have posted some pictures of my trip....what follows is an account of what happened to myself and my wife over the three week period I was away as written by my wife................

 

"Russ goes to the UK:

His trip to see family & race at Santa Pod Raceway has been the most unluckiest trip of our lives together!!!

He went by motorbike as he loves a long trip - he was so looking forward to the adventure, seeing family after nearly 3 years & he had planned to race his Dragster Slingshot for the last time before handing over the car to his son Steve who has been racing it since we moved to Spain.

13th Sep : we took our dogs for their holiday at The Dog Grove in Oliva. Our dogs love it there!

14th: Russ sets off on his trip. & I move into a lovely airbnb for a week to allow the builders to fit the floor tiles & continue to work in practically every room in our house, including major plumbing, LOL.

15th: Susan at the kennels calls me to say Harry has had an accident! Our lovely greyhound/ border collie cross age 10 with arthritic hips is having so much fun playing with our Spanish Greyhound - a Galgo, Willow age 3 that he decides to do a bit of acrobatics…. He lept up into the air & spun around, jumping higher than the average greyhound would do at his age only to catch the skin on his back on a high branch! Clint & Susan are wonderful people who have run the kennels for 30+ years so for Harry to have reached the branch was almost a miracle & they keep the trees & bushes trimmed back to prevent any injuries! Susan said - It is a bit more than they could deal with so off they go with Harry to their vet. They kept him in & cleaned & stitched him up under anaesthetic, gave him antibiotics & Clint picked him up later in the evening. Poor Willow was all upset & they had to be in separate kennels overnight so he could rest & recover. Harry bounces back to is usual self by the morning & is continuing to recover as I write this. As this was happening Russ was on route to the Ferry. I decided to not tell him as knowing Russ he would have just turned round & come back home! I did not want to spoil his adventure.

16th: Russ arrived in the Uk.

17th: he reaches Santa Pod & had 2 practice runs in the car before the proper racing is to start the next morning.

18th: Racing starts, car sounds strange & major problems with the axil & gears - Racing is over for the team! Russ & family are so disappointed as no parts available to repair the car that weekend. They return to the pits & find out that the truck has been burgled - Russ’ bike keys, passport, wallet, credit cards, debit cards, money, driving licence etc….all stolen!!!! His was one of many racers & crews who had had huge thefts!

Luckily Russ had a spare set of bike keys, so after reporting everything to the police he went to stay with his brother for a few days.

20th: Russ having cancelled all the cards & passport contacts the Passport emergency helpline to order a fast track new Passport, they send him the link to apply for the passport & he fills it in & pays for the new passport.

22nd: I return home from the airbnb & the house is coming on well. I have been feeling very tired all week.

23rd go to get my hair done, feeling more tired & tried not to fall asleep at the hairdressers!….

7pm I start my own dire adventure as a very ill person as I have a GI bleed, this continues all night with at least 6 trips to the bathroom until 5am when I collapse into bed & sleep until 9:30 am when Russ phones me. After I phone the kennels to extend the dogs stay……

24th:Not wanting to worry Russ I tell him I was tired & having a lie in. I then go the the bathrom & haemorrhage even more - now feeling very dizzy & trying to keep concious I phone our builder who runs to our house in monsoon like rain & he imediately phones an ambulance. I am blue lighted into A&E & admitted to hospital. Panic ensues & being a nurse I can see the concern in the staff about my condition. Once stabilised with fluids & drugs I am told that I am now very anaemic. Russ rings me while at the cemetery visiting his parents graves & feeling very sad. He asks me to “ pop upstairs & find his Uncles address….” I then have to tell him I am in hospital…. He nearly falls to pieces. As he cant return home without a Passport!

25th: I have an emergency endoscopy - some gastric issues but it looks like the main problem is in my gut.

26th: still not allowed to eat or drink & prepared for a colonoscopy. I have another bleed thanks to the bowel preparation medicines.

27th: the culprit is found - lots of gut issues found but none sinister but severe diverticulitis seen & bleeding is stopped.By this time I am even more anaemic. An iron transfusion is commenced.

28th: sent home from hospital - still very fragile & so weak & barely able to walk to my friends car.

All week we have spent hours on the phone to the Passport Office as they had sent him the wrong link to get his passport- it was to take up to 6 weeks & be sent to Spain!!!!! They had also given him incorrect info on 4 occasions - The emergency helpline was not able to cope with a British citizen who as an expat needs to return home to Spain & not to the UK!!!! The emergency phoneline is also the same number as for any other enquiry!!! I speak to the British Embassy in Madrid for advice, they are shocked to hear about all the problems with the passport office but cannot intervene on anything to do with passports

29th: Russ gives the passport office an ultimatum, ring him by 3pm or he will be contacting the newspapers! They had wanted my medical records translated by their official translators in Spain - the webpage they send him too is sending error codes so we cant get them translated. They also wanta doctor to write in English that I am too ill to be home alone. Try getting a Spanish doctor to do that! I finally contact a doctor in Jávea & book an appointment for him to confirm how ill I am. 4pm Russ finally gets a response from the Passport Office- his passport can be collected after 2pm the next day! He doesn’t need to prove how ill I am so doctors appointment is cancelled.

1st Oct: Russ collects his Passport & books his return crossing for Sunday- Now I tell him all about Harry’s accident! I just hope he gets back home here on Monday without any other misshap!!!"

 

And that didn't include my search for fuel the day before I left or the fact that I nearly missed the return ferry and was the absolute last vehicle boarded. fun Eh? I'm going to sell the bike wrap myself in bubble wrap and not leave the house from now on.

[XTreme]

Glad you're back OK Russ.....I've been checking your updates on FB.

I've never known anybody to have as many disasters as you......have things always been like that? 

[busabeast]

Sounds like the holiday from hell, hope everything settles down soon and you're both OK 

[Pedro]

First, glad your wife is better, that was quite the scare. Don't you have any friends near to home, or neighbours, able to help in such an emergency?

 

Secondly, that's a kickass looking car, don't know if I would want to be strapped inside that thing though. Probably just one time 

 

Out of curiosity: I once had a business partner from Belgium visit me in Porto. The afternoon before his early flight back to Belgium my car gets robbed and he looses all his identification, wallet, computer, etc, except his phone. After a police report I get the belgium consulate (not embassy) to write him a temporary passport. All they had were pictures of him taken on the spot, and his own information about his personal data, and myself as a testimony of character. He got a handwritten passport on the spot valid for a few months, containing all the necessary stamps to be accepted anywhere in the world, that he used to board a plane the very next morning having no other document with him. Bear in mind this was not long after the Brussels terrorist attacks.

[DangerRuss58]

2 hours ago, Pedro said:

First, glad your wife is better, that was quite the scare. Don't you have any friends near to home, or neighbours, able to help in such an emergency?

 

Secondly, that's a kickass looking car, don't know if I would want to be strapped inside that thing though. Probably just one time 

 

Out of curiosity: I once had a business partner from Belgium visit me in Porto. The afternoon before his early flight back to Belgium my car gets robbed and he looses all his identification, wallet, computer, etc, except his phone. After a police report I get the belgium consulate (not embassy) to write him a temporary passport. All they had were pictures of him taken on the spot, and his own information about his personal data, and myself as a testimony of character. He got a handwritten passport on the spot valid for a few months, containing all the necessary stamps to be accepted anywhere in the world, that he used to board a plane the very next morning having no other document with him. Bear in mind this was not long after the Brussels terrorist attacks.

Pedro the dragster is a blast and yes it is a bit of a beast as well but like anything in life if you do it often enough you get used to it. You can still get emergency travel docs but they are only for people who ned to return to the UK from abroad for emergencies such as loss of passport death of loved one etc but I was already in the UK and that system doesn't work the other way around. I put in an emergency passport request which took longer to sort out than a fast track passport would have grrrr

[DangerRuss58]

2 hours ago, XTreme said:

Glad you're back OK Russ.....I've been checking your updates on FB.

I've never known anybody to have as many disasters as you......have things always been like that? 

No not as a rule up untill recently I have always had good luck....strange

[boboneleg]

Wow, it's hard to believe that one family could have so much bad luck in one short period.  I hope your wife is recovering ok .

[Tango]

Wow, they really did come in a three!

I hope that your missus and dog are both doing ok now?

That's a shame about the Pod! I first went there in the early 1980's and would leave all my bike gear, etc in the tent with no worries. Unfortunately there are gangs of thieves who target any big events these days. Which event was it that you were competing in? Hopefully the car can be fixed OK too? 

[XTreme]

1 hour ago, DangerRuss58 said:

No not as a rule up untill recently I have always had good luck....strange

Did things change round about the time you met me on FaceButt? 

[XTreme]

58 minutes ago, Tango said:

Which event was it that you were competing in?

The "unluckiest Cunt of the Year award 2021".

[MooN]

What a disaster, I hope wife and dog are on the mend now. 

[DangerRuss58]

4 hours ago, Tango said:

Wow, they really did come in a three!

I hope that your missus and dog are both doing ok now?

That's a shame about the Pod! I first went there in the early 1980's and would leave all my bike gear, etc in the tent with no worries. Unfortunately there are gangs of thieves who target any big events these days. Which event was it that you were competing in? Hopefully the car can be fixed OK too? 

I've been going to the Pod since 73 and yes this is a very rare event but having said that I know of a few other racers who had far more than me stolen one guy had 3000 pounds taken from under the seat of his tow vehicle.

[DangerRuss58]

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

The "unluckiest Cunt of the Year award 2021".

It felt like it at the time but I did get everything sorted, replaced bank cards got a new passport and the wife is now out of hospital on the road to recovery, and I did get home albeit a few days late so depends on which way you look at it...now planning next years trip!!!!

 

[XTreme]

2 minutes ago, DangerRuss58 said:

It felt like it at the time but I did get everything sorted, replaced bank cards got a new passport and the wife is now out of hospital on the road to recovery, and I did get home albeit a few days late so depends on which way you look at it...now planning next years trip!!!!

 

I'll keep an eye out on FB for the next instalment Russ......it won't be long! 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Thats one stressful run! Like everyone has already said, glad your wife’s on the mend and your back home