The day when everything changed.

Adventure Training Camp 2006.
Friday, 2 June to Sunday, 4 June.

This are the days that i shall never forget.
It is a day when the bad turns good..
The vague becomes clear...
Certainty is doubted...

I held the position of a Logistics in charge.
Nothing much to do really...
Other than preparing the necessary equipments..
I'm only on standby in case of a need for manpower.

Simple task...
But.
Boring to the core!

I was lucky enough to have the company of a few very nice souls...

My three NCOs
Daryl...
Nisa...
Linda...

And two other NCOs from HIHS...
Wanting and Jia Hao...

These kids were the reason i survived the 3 days camp...
Without them, i doubt i can make it through with nothing else except for self-entertainment. We shared jokes, crapped the night through, fight ants with water, burn the kitchen down, played Ji Gu Pa, and sit down and rot. Sounds Fun, Right!!!!
Well.... it was.

The sun was scorching hot througout the entire camp to the extent that my bottle had to be refilled every few hours. Although we had drinkable water in Ubin, there was one thing i have to make very clear.... THE WATER SUCKS! SUPER STRONG CHEMICAL TASTE! Thus, i ended up drinking less water than i should without even realizing it.

However, on Day 2, the weather was unbearable and JJ and I were in charge of an obstacle that's got not many shelters around, anything goes.... Suddenly, the chlorine-flavoured water tasted so good. We had to refill our bottles during every intervals of switching of cadets. There was seriously no room for us not to hydrate ourselves in such a deadly weather. For CIs on duty then, the whole day was spent grilling ourselves.

Day 3, as usual, the weather did not give in while I and 6 of my fellow collegues got busy accounting for all the logistics items. That was when i felt this throbbing pain in my head. That pain was the same pain i felt on the night of Day 1, but aggravated by the heat, it felt worse. I felt weak all of a sudden and my collegues were aware of it. What i didn't notice was that my face was, according to them, already pale by then. My sole intention was to get things done, go home and sleep the next week through. It seemed, afterall, like any other headaches i've had. So i wasn't very much alarmed by it.

Finally, it was time for us to walk back to Ubin Jetty. Dennis, JJ, and CK were all very caring towards me. They offered to carry my bags for me. I tried turning down their offer as i did not want to pose any burden upon them. All of us are equally tired and i don't think it is right to allow them to assist me when they themselves have their own things to carry.

CK walked with me throughout the journey. It was not until halfway through the walk that i started feeling as though i could not carry on any further. My actions don't syncronize with my thoughts. I was walking extremely slow but i thought i was brisk walking already. I could no longer walk in a straight line. Nonetheless, i simply saw them as a sign of me being just tired and chose to carry on with the walk.

But as i was nearing the jetty, i seriously could not keep myself up anymore. I pulled CK's sleeves and tried to use him as my support. He told me to stabalize my breathing, walk slowly and look up. But i could not slow down my breathing and that panicked me, and i could not hold my head up for long without feeling dizzy. The next thing i know, i was on the ground, unconscious. What happened next were unknown to me until CK recalled the whole incident to me.

*As told by CK*
He was shocked to even think straight. A few foreigners offered to help. Medic Officer Wei Qian (HIHS) came to the scene, followed by Dennis a few seconds later. They called my name repeatedly but my response was either slow or none. My pulse and breathing were weak. I stopped breathing on two accounts. Wei Qian gave me a wet kiss (rescue breathing) and they called the Police Coast Guards to evacuate me.
*As told by CK*

I started regaining control of my thoughts somewhere near the ambulance i guess... why guess? I could hear the things around me but i could not respond to them physically. They pushed me into an ambulance and then, for the first time in my life, i heard the sound of the siren blaring just for me. nice eh....

They sent me to CGH where i remained 'asleep' for another 3+++ hours. The doc who attended to me was strange. He was amused at how my eyes tend to roll up when my eyelids were opened. I guess he stood by my side, doing the same thing for a good 10 mins. Then he poked something sharp into my ears, one at a time, and sprayed cold water into them. That made me feel even more dizzy momentarily. The worst part was....... in an attempt to wake me up, he spread WASABE all over my mouth!!!!!!!! It was on my teeth and on my tongue! I knew it was wasabe but i couldn't swallow or spit them out! I tried to tell myself to do it but my body just didn't respond! So for the next few hours, i remained tortured by the hot wasabe and started drooling them out! Even that was beyond my control! The nurses noticed me drooling and decided to clean it up for me. But when they realized that i was already drooling more than we (the nurses and i) had expected, they left me, with the tissue somewhere beside me, behind. I have never felt so helpless and 'abused' before. haha!

When i woke up, the doc told me that i suffered from heat stroke and psychological coma.... it was bacause of the latter that i stayed 'asleep' for hours. He said that i could hear what the people around me were saying but, due to the after effect of heat stroke, i was too weak to respond. oh, btw, i woke up 3 mins earlier than what was estimated by the doc. that 3 mis saved me from being admitted. HENG AH!!!!!! I seriously do not want to worry both my family and collegues further by being admitted.

I was discharged on that day itself and doc told me to rest well for the whole of next week. He told me to expect feeling lethargic throughout the whole week and drink lots of water....

well...

that should no longer be a prob as now, i have more flavours to choose from...

rose...

pink dolphine...

and the best ever...

pure, cold, PLAIN WATER!!!!!

i miss that so much!