This is a big personal thank you from Simon Norris, Gaffer at Little Fire Digital. I owe a lot of people a lot. So please bear with me and pardon the French.
So it has been a week since I ran into this rude bastard in the fog. It was quite the altercation.
In the time between I have been an atom, alone and adrift – far from my tribe, far from home.
I have had the enormous good fortune to never suffer serious injury or illness and so never really had to watch the social hive care. It is a marvel. As a tourist interloper, more marvellous still. Europe, for all our faults and schisms, the society we share … thank you.
I am home again now with a long trudge to recovery ahead under lengthening days and bluer skies.
I doubt many I thank here will ever know of this tract but just in case:
- To Gary and the others who stayed, to Bernhardt and his team who found me – thank you for getting me off the mountain.
- To the ambulance crew – you never did find my veins but you delivered me safely to people who could.
- The radiologists and the others who re-located my shoulder whilst revealing one of my limbs was now just so much bust-up Lego.
- To the surgeon who saved my leg (to be fair, the word “amputate” was only used twice) – I doubt you’ll ever understand the full gratitude lodged to your account by your patients.
- To the many teams at Bezirkrankenhaus Kufstein thank you for your diligence and care masquerading as cheer.
- To Wolfgang and the other inmates – I enjoyed trying and sharing what little we could. My German hasn’t been so good for nearly forty years.
- I should hand it to the insurers. It wasn’t perfect but your guys worked hard and late and here I am. A contract is a marvellous thing.
- To the drivers, the airport staff, to Sue – my journey home was daunting and yet somehow it just happened … until, bless you Mohammed, a crash on the M1 just was not fair.
- To the mid-life crisis couple in front of me on the plane, get a room. But I wish you the best.
- To Zoe and Hannah, it was a pleasure to meet you both. I would have been stuffed without you. Zoe, I hope your recovery continues apace.
- To the myriad people who stayed in touch, I have never felt so lucky. Special thanks to the Tigers guys, the ski dads, Trish, my family, Madders, Mad Matt, Fizz … I could never name you all. I cannot imagine better people to call my own.
- To Rich, James, Chris, and Virginia at Little Fire Digital who kept the show on the road as I lay delirious.
- To all our friends and clients (Synergy BNI, Ryder & Jagged Globe stand out but there were more), I literally cannot wait to start working with you all again.
- To my boys, thank you for stepping up. Never been prouder.
- To my love, I genuinely thought life might be done messing with you. I am so sorry to bring this to your door. We will overcome, we both know this.