Bradford Lad: A Prickly Problem
Mike Coatesworth encountered a prickly problem when he went on Army exercises to the Virgin Islands.
It was hot with a capital “H” as we landed on the Virgin Islands, and it was so dry even the cacti were screaming for water. We climbed up a rocky precipice. For every three feet we went up, we came back two. It was hard going.
Every few seconds I stopped for a drink of water. Several of my mates slid past me, back down the way they had just come. I knew they would be OK. They were experienced soldiers. However, another young lad slid by me, gathering speed. I saw fear in his face and I realise he was in danger of being injured.
I reached out my right arm and grabbed hold of him. He in turn grabbed hold of me, holding on tighter than a limpet on the hull of a ship. He would have dragged me down with him, but fortunately I’d had the forethought to wrap my left hand around the rope which had been thrown down by someone who had completed the climb.
There was a sudden jolt, and the pain in my shoulder was almost unbearable. I hung on though. I hung onto that rope, and onto the lad. Eventually he managed to sort himself out and climb the rope.
And now I was the one in trouble. My left arm had become weak. I lost my grip and started to slide at speed over the rocky surface. I grabbed hold of the first thing I saw. More pain. Intense. I wanted to curse, to scream. I had grabbed hold of a cactus. It slowed my descent though and I managed to control the rest of my fall. I wasn't able to control it enough to keep myself from landing in another patch of cactus. I wasn't alone. Several of my mates had already landed there.
I finally did make it to the top. Along with the other soldiers who had had close encounters with the cactus I had to report to the medics. We were told to drop our trousers and end over. The medics removed the thorns with tweezers then painted a smelly liquid on our bums.
Afterwards the young lad who I had grabbed hold of came across, thanked me and handed me a beer. I was surprised. We hadn't brought any beer with us.
He told me that he had got it from some American GI’s who were camped at the other side of the hill. Apparently they had landed further up the coast where there was a road. They just followed the road to their campsite.
Hmm. Now why didn’t we think of that?
