Adrian (right) with his opponent Stuart
Here at Blimey! towers we are used to cleaning upholstery and carpets after other peoples accidents, but not usually our own. Not our own blood stains anyway….
Some of you will already be aware that my husband Adrian likes to do a little white collar boxing. (Yo Adriiiiian!!) He is a commited member of Impact Gym in Bristol where they regularly host their popular amateur boxing matches and for Adi it’s his preferred way to stay fit.
Training for these fights is intense. You have to be super fit and although carpet cleaning is hard work for fitness it doesn’t quite cut it as boxing (apparently) isn’t just about how hard you can punch, its about how hard a punch you can take and after a sparring session one day we found out exactly how hard that punch would be for Adi…
Blood stains all over the van’s upholstery….
So he’s in the gym sparring and he gets a hit right on the nose. Ouch. There’s blood everywhere- no problem there we can clean that up- (Floor blimey! – the Carpet and upholstery cleaners for Weston Super Mare….) But as he felt a little sore and dazed and at the instructors insistence he sat out for a while to get himself straight. When they were happy he was ok to go home but not drive himself he decided to come home to Blimey! towers but unfortunately ignored their advice and got in the van.
That’s when I got his phone call, which went along the lines of “don’t panic, everything’s ok, but I’m on my way to Southmead hospital- can you meet me there and I’ll tell you what’s happened.
A mad hospital rush.
Cue me trying to be calm, shoving the boys in the car and driving to Bristol and trying to stave off thoughts of anything terrible whilst hoping that he really is alright and not just fobbing me off as he sometimes does……
Turns out he was alright, but extremely bloody lucky to be! What he had done was gotten into the Blimey!mobile and headed onto the motorway. After around ten minutes he thought to himself, I don’t feel right and indicated to pull onto the hard shoulder. That’s when he sneezed and remembers blood shooting all over the place. The next thing he can recall is being woken by a paramedic in an orange jumpsuit who calmly told him that he and the van had been in an accident and that they were on a grass verge at the side of the motorway.
“Far out” Adi said.
Actually he probably didn’t say that but knowing Adi and how infuriatingly laid back he is I couldn’t help but imagine that happening. Grrrr……
Emergency Helicopter.
So he was of course fully checked over, asked his name and address etc and breathalised (clear) at the roadside and then and put into the back of an ambulance. No-one knows exactly how long he had been there but we later learnt that paramedics in orange jumpsuits tend to come out of helicopters, so we are guessing it was a while.
By the time I reached the hospital I had convinced myself that the worst was going to happen and burst into the room a tearful mess to find him sat up drinking a cup of tea but covered in wires and looking very sorry for himself.
But he was OK. After 6 hours and many many checks he was finally declared fit to go home but to take a week off work and check in with his GP after that. Seems he had suffered a delayed concussion.
The real bad news for Adi was that as the gym have policies that care about their fighters and have such interest in their health and wellbeing they said he wasn’t allowed in the ring for his fight for a while. The really good news for me was that the gym said he wasn’t allowed in the ring again for his fight for a while. As if I was going to let him yet anyway?
A swift recovery and a mission accomplished.
But he didn’t stay out for long as I calmed down and he felt fitter and with the gyms permission he went on to fight 10 weeks later and as well as being a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting evening the result was a draw!!!
So the mission to win sadly wasn’t accomplished but to get into the ring was and the fight was fought and no-one ended up too seriously hurt. All good, and the upholstery in the van finally got cleaned so that was also a bonus too. (Every cloud).
If anyone is interested in trying white collar boxing – and if we haven’t put you off you can reach Impact gym here to find out more about fight nights. – Tell them Adrian sent you…. Yooo!!