You only die once

Chapter 4 Risking your life

Chapter 4

Risking your life

Having a near-death experience three times for one person is a bit too much. Don't you think so? Maybe this next encounter would be considered half an experience.

I had just started recovering from my motorcycle accident when we took a group of students for a day out. While in school, the seniors would take the underprivileged juniors out for day breaks. Twice a year this would be organised. Usually the kids were 'delinquents' and had problems in school and also at home. The programme was designed to help give some proper 'peer' group access hoping to stimulate them to study and learn better.

That day, we had gone to the beach by bus. Not the usual rented big bus schools use today or their own private school bus. Instead, we took the public bus! There were 20 kids and 20 seniors. But, to most of us as an afterthought, one to one was not a good idea. Probably two or three seniors to one kid would have been better. They would literally get us going round in circles. 'Stop' to them means 'run'. 'Silent' means 'shout back'. And they were full of 'interesting' questions. 'Get on the bus' would be replied with 'Why, it hasn't moved yet?'. 'Sit down' would be answered with 'Can stand, why sit?' You can imagine the headache we got ourselves into. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♂️

On the way back, they were full of energy. There was this one kid who seemed to be extremely active. Run and run and would not stop. Possibly today, we would call it 'hyperactive disorder'. Ha. But those days, they were just 'naughty'. And guess what? In those good old days, we were left in peace (or to perish) by the teachers. No teacher or parent was mandated to come along.

At the station, a bus was reversing into the parking bay. The back of the two-bus parking bay was an 80-degree slope made of just rock, soil, and foliage. Those days, buses didn't have reverse cameras or special mirrors, nor did they make any funny sounds when they reversed. When the bus was two metres from the slope, I suddenly spied out of the corner of my eye this 'hyperactive' kid right behind the bus, almost at the slope. He seemed to be oblivious to bus. He was just jumping up and down holding something, happily facing the slope. I shouted to him but I probably didn't even hear myself. Either I was so terrified that my scream didn't come out or the noise level at the station was just incredibly loud with the bus engine and people talking and shouting at the top of their voices. I had already started to run towards the boy as I screamed. Next moment, I grabbed him under his armpits and in another instant we were on the other side of the bus. I turned, only to see the bus completely reversed and almost touching the slope. I was literally overcome with relief and shock. No one even noticed what had happened. The kid ran off the moment he shook himself off me. He was holding his shoe! As I breathed a sigh of relief, I suddenly felt pain in my ribs and left side. I had literally forgotten my injury in the adrenaline rush.

What the heck was he doing? I really don't know until today. I wonder how he has fared in life. It's been 40 years. I was so shocked and also worried that I didn't really tell anyone the whole episode. I was the team leader of the group. If anything went wrong, my head was on the chopping board, so to say.

Thinking back as I write this down, a tiny bit of chill is still there. I could have tripped while running. I could have missed catching him. Maybe I should have banged on the bus instead. Or run to the driver, rather than risk my own life. The surprising thing was I didn't feel fear until it was over. They say "you have no fear if you have nothing to lose." True?