Ambulance For Madikeri-True Story ...Contd

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The following hours and days were a bit of a blur for me, I had to complete a lot of bureaucratic procedures with the police station and also try and arrange for us to be transported back to England. It was very traumatic for me and I do not think I would have survived had it not been for the help of the guide, his wife and the owner of the Tourist office. From the moment I was at the hospital the guide's wife did not leave my side (despite not speaking a word of English) until I was on the plane home. She bathed me in her house, she slept by side and she accompanied me everywhere I had to go. I feel eternally indebted to her.

The owner of the tourist office also took charge of getting all the procedures moving (including the post mortem) so that I could get home as quickly as possible. I was home 3 days after David died, and his body was in England that same day too. I feel this was testament to the hard work of the people of Madikeri who wanted to help me.

Once I was back in the UK I also learned that the owner of the tourist office had decided to set up a charity in David's memory, to help the local community and to also honour David's life. This was and is a source of great comfort to me, and I know that they continue to do great work in his name. It is through this David Lord Charitable Trust that the ambulance shall be bought. I decided that I wanted to contribute in some way, and an ambulance seemed like an appropriate donation and something that would really help the community.

Initially I set up the website www.davelord.org.uk which generated donations from friends and family of David and myself and then I started to plan other ways to raise money. On July 1st, myself and a number of friends, ran 10km in London having gathered significant sponsorship for the cause. This raised the funds to over 5000 pounds, but more was needed in order to buy the ambulance. As a result I decided to organise this Karnataka event in Bristol, which will involve stalls, a raffle, children's play area, music, food and drink with all proceeds going to the ambulance.

Fingers crossed it will be a success and we will raise the necessary funds. I am booked on a flight to return to India on the 18th November when I intend to purchase and inaugurate the ambulance. I shall take many pictures of my trip and am happy to share them with you upon my return. If you go to the website mentioned above though, you will be able to see a photo of David in India with a puppy, and also a photo of him watching the sun set the night before he died.

All of this has been such a terrible shock and we are all still coming to terms with the loss. He was such a wonderful person and was enjoying so very much the experience of India and everything it taught him. The post mortem revealed that he had had a heart attack, but with no previous symptoms and at such a young age (he was 33) it is very hard to accept this is what happened. I have however, started to try to come to terms with it, and am learning that in fact this 'sudden death' occurs more frequently than we realise. This is why I have pledged to also donate some money to CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young- Visit their website http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/)