Alec Muffett Update : Monday 17th July

From Bart:

I went to Lille earlier today and visited Alec — he’s doing quite well (I found it very noticable how his breathing is now much more relaxed than it was at the beginning of the week). We walked in on him enjoying his lunch, the dessert portion of which vanished extremely quickly…

Alec is, however, bored out of his mind as there’s little to do; he listens to his iPod, does some exercises (some for his lungs and some for the rest of his body, to retain mobility), looks at the shiny coloured things in his room, or the clock, or the emergency light over his bed… all in all, not the most exciting environment.

(He’s in need of his connectivity fix, so here’s to hoping he gets to Birmingham soon… and that they have wifi or so there)

He still has his drain in (because the insurance company wants it there should they finally repatriate him), which means he still has an IV in, and which also means a nurse comes in every morning and gets blood for testing (not overly pleasant).

His leg, in a kind of supporint harnass/cast thing, seems to be causing him no trouble (as long as it’s left in peace), so he has now added an ankle-mobility part to his exercise routine.

I have a new “Alec’s adventures in Lille” podcast and will send it to Geoff for posting tomorrow (I can’t get it off my phone right now so won’t be able to send it today – sorry for the delay)

From Rachel:

The insurance company are being really, really difficult. There is no guarantee at present that he will be re-patriated on Monday, they are putting un-necessary obstacles in the way. If things do not improve fast on Monday morning, then calls to local MP and perhaps whatever the insurance worlds ombudsman set-up is have to be made.

I suspect (and this is just a hunch on my part) that in the (very) long run, Alec may change his insurance firm for his bike/travel (the culprits are Carole Nash for anyone interested).

More news, when we get it!