How do I get us all home?!

[CeciliaMars]

I am in Europe on holiday with my husband and 3 primary school age kids. We have a hire car that only he can drive. He has badly injured his hip, he’s been to hospital and is on strong painkillers and has crutches. He can barely walk and is in agony. We are meant to be flying home on Friday. How do we get the hire car to the airport and all of us into the airport? I am going to request assistance once we get to the airport. Also at the other end, how do I get him to our car? We are a shuttle bus away from our car. He literally can’t walk and is in agony. I truly can’t figure out the logistics of this.

Can he go down the stairs on his bum. He doesn’t need another accident using crutches on a stairs. Or can he use the bannister to support him getting down.

That sounds positive.

Glad things are getting going! Surprised there’s no lift!

Not really relevant, but where on earth are you staying that has four flights of stairs and no lift! If it’s a hotel might be worth talking to the staff as there probably is a goods lift somewhere that they might let you use if accompanied by a staff member.

Have they given him painkillers? If not get to the pharmacy and get him on a constant supply and strict schedule for the next few days, even if he thinks he’s ok in a couple of days keep them going til you get back. For example paracetamol at 6:00/12/18/00 and ibuprofen or maybe codeine at 9:00/15/21. Pharmacy should be able to advise on safe dosage.

Be aware airport assistance is a very overused service and they need time to get you places.... Also they can abandon you. We were travelling business (for ease and seat size!) and once in the lounge, someone literally arrived 5 minutes later to take MIL to the gate. We refused and said she needs time in the lounge (which is part of the ticket!) and the guy walked off... fortunately leaving us with the wheelchair which we used to push her to the gate 45 mins later.

I hope u get back safely and that he recovers nicely

Good luck with it! How stressful. Hoping your DC are old enough to lend a hand to some degree x

Seriously? I’ve never driven an automatic. If we had an automatic hire car there is no way I would drive one for the first time in a foreign country.

The accommodation should have an Evac Chair he can go down the stairs in.

It's easier than driving a manual, especially when abroad because the gear shift on a manual is on the wrong side when abroad.

Your insurance should pay tp take him home by train

I think you must have missed the OP’s latest post? It’s all sorted, more or less, thankfully, bar the bit where wounded DH has to get down a load of stairs.

It’s just an apartment block in Spain. Cheap and cheerful - fine till it’s not!

Really? I think the opposite, people are obsessed with not driving. There’s always an insane number of posts providing reasons why people can’t/don’t drive. I know one person who doesn’t. It’s unusual. MN however is full of people who are 3 foot 11, have uncontrolled epilepsy, or who are apparently fully capable and safe drivers but only when travelling the length of their driveway on the second Tuesday of every month. For some reason they also tend to live somewhere ‘very rural’.

Theres a post earlier pouring scorn on the idea that one might assume an adult has a driving licence…….yes how foolish to assume that an adult has what most adults have.

So every days - but I still wouldn’t attempt it for the first time driving an injured person plus three small DC to an airport to drop it off. Not a chance.

Going down the stairs on crutches is going to be very painfull and there is a risk he may fall. My airport assistance didnt arrive at one airport, I had no way to leave the plane except the stairs. He will need to go very slowly and rest on every landing. If there is a room you can hire on the ground floor I'd be inclined to get him down the night before the flight. If you cant do that make sure you allow a LOT of extra time.

But yes - check with the cleaners and check every staircase in case one hides a service lift. It's possible there is a lift they use for laundry.

You're joking!He needs to get home asap, not be subjected to a tortuous long and uncomfortable journey

But why berate those who can't or don't want to?

He must go down the stairs on his bum. The risk of falling is too great.
Hope you all get home OK.

Ask the management if they have a lift or an evac chair. How would someone injured get out during a fire?

Hell no. Much too easy for the lazy slacker. Insurance should pay for him to get a comfortable pair of shoes and a couple of packs of sandwiches and he should walk home.

I can't actually believe that you think taking an injured man halfway across Europe on a fucking train is an idea that even warrants a nanosecond of thought - never mind posting!

Berate those who can't? No.

Berate those who don't want to? Yes, and justifiably!

After not being able to get a job for years because public transport where I lived was so bad, and then landing a job that had a 5am start within weeks of passing my test, I struggle to understand why anyone would deliberately hamstring themselves by not learning to drive.

@Clonakilla
Around 1 in 100 people have epilepsy. It’s a horrible and unpredictable condition, even when taking medication. You have to be seizure-free for a year to be able to drive and even after a long gap a seizure can occur without warning, so you may not want to risk it.

I grew up thinking that ‘everyone’ could drive if they wanted to and now know, sadly, that is not the case.

For the stairs, standard on crutches is 'up with the good, down with the bad'.
So to go downstairs, if it is his left leg that is bad, put left foot down first and then join with the right foot.

Good luck!