Last week was warm to hot, and there were thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and even a hailstorm that caused a lot of damage in my neighbourhood.
On Monday (July 8), I arrived home from Offenburg about half an hour before my first call of the day. The day was beautiful and not too hot at a max of 26C/79F. During my lunch break, I popped over to a friend's to deliver her birthday present and card and for a brief chat; it was a working day for both of us so we kept it short. After work, I went on my standard Benningen walk and enjoyed that very much.
Coming back into Ludwigsburg on the local train, we were pulling in at the station but came to a halt just before reaching the proper spot at the platform. The doors didn't open, and people outside who wanted to get on the train looked as confused as we did on the train.
After a few minutes, the very nervous sounding voice of the driver announced that we'd just had an accident with a person on the track. He gasped for air and was clearly very upset. A female voice took over from him, sounding a little calmer. She confirmed that there had been an accident and we could not leave the train until the police and rescue team were here. She apologised and asked us all to please remain calm, go back to our seats and wait, which is what we all did.
It didn't take long for the various teams to arrive (police, firemen, paramedics). They herded the people waiting outside off the platform and started to walk the length of the train, looking carefully underneath it right outside the window where I was sitting. Thankfully, we couldn't actually see anything, just them doing their job.
All in all, we waited for about half an hour - not much, but it started to feel long. Fortunately, I didn't need the toilet (there aren't any on the local trains), wasn't overly thirsty or hungry and had enough power on my mobile to exchange text messages with my Mum and my sister. Also, the train wasn't crowded, there were no crying children, noisy folks or blaring music from people's phones.
A police officer boarded the train and asked us all to get off, but not by the regular doors; instead, we were to get off at the driver's door, where another officer assisted those who needed assistance to climb down the steps (much higher of course than the regular doors for passengers). We were all asked whether we had seen or heard anything unusual just prior to the unexpected halt, but nobody had - we'd all been either chatting, faffing with our phones, looking out of the window or reading.
Once we were allowed down the stairs from the platform, another officer didn't let us leave the station immediately. Along the passage, we could see a person being transported to one of the waiting ambulance, upright on a stretcher, oxygen mask over their face. Only when they were safely in the ambulance and driving off were we allowed to leave.
I was home a bit later than planned, but alright - and I was really hoping that whoever it was who'd had that accident would be alright, too.
To this day I don't know what happened; was it a suicide attempt, an accident or had someone pushed the person? Strangely enough, neither our local paper nor the online platforms where the police publish the events they've been dealing with mentioned the incident.
Tuesday (9 July) was the hottest day of the week at 32C/90F. It was too hot for a pleasant walk and so I remained home after work.
It was my regular day at the office on Wednesday (10 July), cooler and with thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the afternoon and evening. I visited my Mum after work and got soaked on the way home in spite of my rain coat. However, it was just water, and I changed into my PJs as soon as I got home anyway.
My Mum had cataract surgery the next morning (Thursday, 11 July), with my sister driving her to and from hospital. All went well, and she was back home after a few hours.
After a rainy morning, the sun reappered in the afternoon, and at 25C/77F, it was not too hot for a walk. I knew my Mum had everything she needed and mainly needed to rest, so I went for a walk on my own, taking in part of the palace grounds, the park-like cemetery and a part of town where I'd not been in a while.
In order to not make this post even longer than it already is, I'll cut off here and will tell you about Friday, Saturday and Sunday tomorrow.
Oh my goodness, that accident sounds terrible. I hope everyone involved is ok. I'm glad your mom's cataract surgery went well! My mom had the same thing done last year and it improved her vision so much! Sorry about the hot temperatures. We're still in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. Even for South Carolina, it's been a hellish summer....buy at least we all have a/c, unlike most of you in Germany. I'm looking forward to fall and some nice, long walks!
ReplyDeleteMy own cataract surgery in 2021 went very well, too, but unlike my Mum, I was too scared to have it done without full anaesthetics. Apparently the surgeon said to my Mum that he'd rarely seen a patient as relaxed as her!
DeleteAnother very hot day yesterday, but much cooler and windy today here. I hope you get some cooler days soon, it must be hard to try and fit in walks with your dogs very early in the morning or late at night.
I'm glad everyone stayed calm on the train while the emergency was handled. Hope the accident victim is all right.
ReplyDeleteWe have had several heavy thunderstorms here, too, and have lots of branches and leaves come down off of our trees. No terrible damage, tho, so we have been lucky. I think it will cool off a bit now and towards the end of the week and I am looking forward to that!
People were so well behaved when we weren't allowed to get off the train, or later when we had to wait before we were allowed to leave the train station. It restored some of my faith in the general decency of humans.
DeleteWishing you a cooler end of week, Ellen!
How perplexing about the accident. It must not have been too serious, based on your description of the person on the stretcher, and the fact that none of you were aware of the incident when it happened. Frustrating that it never got reported, but again, I'd take that as a sign that ultimately it wasn't too serious.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I've been thinking as well, Steve. It is just odd because every tiny occurrence is usually reported, but not this accident. I felt sorry for the train driver, he sounded utterly shaken.
DeleteThat sounds scary with the accident - and especially of course for the driver of the train (and the person hit, if that's what happened)... But of course as passenger it's also always a nervous wait when one does not know how long the stop will be, whatever the cause.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I was simply on my way home from a walk and did not have another train to catch or an appointment to keep. But whenever such things happen, they inevitably disrupt the day for many people - last but not least the victim.
DeleteThe accident that delayed you all leaving the train, that does sound very strange that there is no mention of it anywhere. I can only hold that person in my thoughts and hope that all is well with him or her. Lovely photos, as always!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kay!
DeleteYes, it is odd that there aren't any reports of the accident on any of the usual platforms, when normally they will report anything, even the smallest incident.
Thank goodness the injured person survived. Incidents like this are extremely disturbing, and drivers can me traumatised and need a lot of time off. When my son was still at home, he was very late back one night because someone had jumped into the path of the preceding straight-through train at Morley station, and all the following trains had to reverse and re-route. He is thankful it was not his train.
ReplyDeleteWe frequently have train delays and cancellations because of suicides or accidents. In the announcements they are always named as "Personenunfall", which can really just mean an accident, but more often than not I'm afraid it means suicide. I know that there is a special psychology unit for traumatised train drivers at the railway companies operating in Germany.
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