It was Tuesday, 24 October 2006. I looked at the clock. 6:20. Crap! I was going to be late! Every tuesday for the past 4 months I had met my climbing partner, Crystal, climbing at the Nike rock gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:30 am. Why at 6:30am, you ask? Because we are nuts. But Crystal moved back to the Univ of Cincinatti to finish her studies, and I had recruited her friend Kristina to be my climbing partner at that hour in the mornings. Dammit! I'm late! No contacts today. No breakfast. No lunch making. Grab workout clothes for after work, grab work clothes (jeans and a tshirt), grab my climbing bag. Out the door! (Forget about the fact that 2 days ago I was up at this hour in the middle of Union square in San Francisco waiting to start my half marathon. Forget about the fact that my thighs were still slightly sore from having run 13.1 miles...)
I announce my arrival at my gym at 6:45. Juan, the rock gym supervisor was there, and Kristina was already there. I apologize for my lateness, and I start putting on my harness. Kristina climbs first. No problem. I was up next. I decide to start out this morning with the easy red route. Juan and I were talking about how I was 25, going on 26 in a month. As I climbed, we talked about how in May, this route had been hard, but now it was easy. Done. Ok, let me down!
I started coming down fairly fast in my opinion. I slowed a little, and then the holds whizzed past me, and just as I caught my breath to think "oh shit", WHAM!!!!! My feet touched the floor a little, my body followed, my glasses flew off, and everything hurt. I heard Juan and Kristina say "oh my gosh". And everything hurt. My back. My hips. It all hurt. There was a sharp pain in all of my back, and my hips were super sore. I thought to myself, oh shit..my back..I wonder if I can still move. I felt myself lift my legs, which felt like lead pipes. Then I heard a "DON"T MOVEEEEEEEE!!!!!" So I didn't. I lay on my side. Juan asked me if I was ok, and I said "it hurts". I couldn't see because my glasses were somewhere not near me.
I heard commotion, and I think it was a Nike security guard that arrived first. They asked everyone there what my name was. I moaned "Amy Gishifu". He asked me how old I was...25. He asked me where I was...At the Nike rock gym in the Lance Armstrong building on the nike campus. He asked me what hurt, and I said my back and my hips. He kept saying that someone would be there soon, and I just complained by saying "it hurt". I overheard Juan say "she fell from about 20 to 25 ft. up." I thought...holy shit...this is not good....
The parametics arrived next I think. Maybe 2 minutes had gone by. Some guys came in and asked me what my name was "Amy Gishifu". How old are you...25. What hurts...my back and my hip. They tried to move my legs....OOOOWWWWWWW!! Ok, maybe not. They told me they were going to put me on the hard plastic rack thing, and then transfer me to the stretcher. I said fine. They asked me if I could feel my legs, and I said yes. Juan took off my rock climbing shoes for me. They strapped the hard plastic stretcher on me, and my whole body hurt. My back especially. I refused to put my legs flat on the stretcher. I insisted on putting my feet on the stretcher so that my spine could rest on the surface of the stretcher. I told them I had a hard time breathing. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed by my rib cage. An oxygen mask went onto my face, I was lifted into the stretcher, onto the cobblestone round in the back of the Lance. It was cold. It was still dark. I couldn't see people's faces because I didn't have my glasses. I think I told them to bring my glasses with me in the ambulance. They kept reassuring me that everything was going to be ok. I think I just kept thinking ...ouwww.....it hurts.....
**What happened? I fell 25 ft. onto the slightly padded rock gym floor at the Lance's rock gym. How? I think my belayer, Kristina, tried to let me down, didn't realize how quickly the rope went through the gri gri, tried to correct for it, got rope burn, didn't let go of the break, and by the time she couuld do anything else, I was on the floor.
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