Dear Readers,
To start I must apologise for my long,
long absence. I will tell you the story and how it relates to my beloved
Russian All-Round Fighting….
December 26th I was at work when hit
with terrible stomach cramps; this is a result of past operations which have
caused scars inside my body called 'adhesions'; these scars can wrap around a
person’s insides and block the body’s organs. This has happened many times to
me in the past, it is treated with bed rest, starvation and pain relief.
It got to 31st December with no
lessoning of the pain, so an operation was decided upon and overnight a six
hour operation freed all the adhesions.
A week passed with usual hospital life,
all friends and family were pleased and it seemed the worry was over. Seven
days later I spent the day feeling as doom was hanging over me.
That evening, and I will spare the
details in full, after I strained my stomach to vomit a 40cm scar sealed with
staples burst open, with contents bursting out!
After some three hours of holding myself
together I was put to sleep. I awoke some three or four days later in intensive
care. After a time the memory of my life and what had happened came back and I
was calmed.
Shortly after, like an apparition, one of
my best friends and students appeared. I thought I was seeing things. No, he
was there my phone in hand. 'Who do I need to call?’ he said. So everyone who
needed to know was told I was alive and had awoken.
They had operated twice to save my life
resulting in an open wound that was the size of a dinner plate and so deep that
you could see my ribs in my back. I won’t go on about the medical details much
more.
Days in, months in… after three months
in my original hospital in
Watford I was transferred nearer home
to Portsmouth. At the time of writing - April 23rd – I’m home, still a hole in
my stomach still fighting the day to day problems.
Six months after the original procedure
they will, I hope, put me back to normal. More surgical work, more risk, more
pain and more worry for my loved ones.
Why is this RAF? Of course without the
strength and fitness I had I would surely be dead. Now that’s easy to read but
think about your life?
How would it affect your family if you
were to go? So think you don’t feel like training tonight? This can affect not
only your performance as a fighter but God forbid fighting for your life in
other circumstances.
This is my main point, training,
fitness, and strength is a life-long goal not just a few short years. RAF is
for LIFE as I hope I proved here.
Thanks to all my family and friends
around the world, you also gave me the will to fight on and get better; have no
fear after this rest I will be back, bigger and harder than when we last met,
so stand back!
My son Tom as always my love
Chest I Slava!
You can contact Darrin at: sambowrestler@yahoo.co.uk
