Day 55 - Remembering Kay

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The two sections below are written independently.

RIP KAY

Kay was the only other English girl on our Titicaca tour, thus we had obvious common ground with her and had spent the walk on the previous afternoon talking with her. She was a lovely girl, really lively and friendly, and had great prospects - she had just graduated from chemical engineering in London and had a job lined up for her when she returned to the UK in 5 weeks. She had left the party early, complaining of a headache, but as we were at altitude no-one thought anything of it.

This morning, Kay did not wake up. Poor Katherine found her, and the 5 med students in the group were rallied up for help. Although it was later concluded that she must have passed away in her sleep, we treated it as an emergency and wanted to get her to hospital. However, there were absolutely no medical services on the island and no emergency evacuation procedure. No place for a helicopter to land and no speed boats. The islanders had no sense of urgency and no concept of the gravity of the situation. My homestay mother suggested my paracetemol and altitude pills may be of use, to a girl who was not even conscious. So primitive, so shocking.

The only way off the island was a 3 hour boat ride to Puno followed by a one hour drive to the neighbouring town's hospital. But first we had to get to the boat. Chris and the 6 other men had to carry her down the hillside, wrapped in her bed sheet. This took an hour, during which time it became clear it was too late. A doctor from our tour group who was at the port, oblivious of the situation until we arrived, pronounced that she had been dead for 1-3 hours. I felt sick to my stomach. Shocked at the sudden transition from a fit, lively, young girl to this hollow shell lying on the jetty. Sick at how undignified the entire morning had been. How helpless we were. How we hadn't given this isolation a thought until the worst had happened. I had not known there was no emergency procedure. Even more horrifying was the thought that if someone had minutes or hours to live, we would not have been able to help them in time. The thought that we all knew Kay's fate, but her friends, family and boyfriend at home would not find out for hours. How would that phone call go. And all the while we had no idea what had caused this tragedy. She had a rash - was it meningitis? Was it a contagious infection? Selfishly I was terrified, absolutely terrified, of something happening to Chris, myself or Taryn. It was a mind numbing combination of emotions; shock, sadness, disgust, horror, sympathy for Kay's family, and this underlying guilty panic for our own health.

How fortunate we are to live in a developed country. Never again will I take for granted our services. The rest of the day was emotional, sombre and paranoia stricken. We vowed to share any problems, from the faintest headache and muscle pain. This was of course ridiculous - we had seasickness from the choppy boat ride back, headaches from the emotion and dizziness from the altitude. I was scared to go to sleep.

We talked about Kay a lot over the next few days and bumped into a few people from the tour. We found out that Kay had died due to pulmonary oedema, a complication of acute altitude sickness (http://www.traveldoctor.co.uk/altitude.htm). A shocking reminder of the fragility of life, no matter what your age or health. Our thoughts go out to Kay's friends and family. - Sophie

Respect

I don't know what to write about today and how respectful it is to do so, but I figure it is as respectful to write about it and show its affect as to not. Unfortunately this morning, when Katherine went to wake Kay, she could not. Kay had passed away in the night, of unknown affliction, but deemed to be a massive reaction to a drug combination Kay had taken for minor ailments.

Five medical graduates from the U.S. worked tirelessly in an attempt to save her life, but with no facilities, on an island 3 hours boat ride and 1 hour car ride to the nearest hospital, the situation was irreversible. In an attempt to do something, all the males in the group, myself included, carried Kay's body in a sheet down the descent to the port, still hoping a fast boat might be able to make the difference. It could not, as a Czech doctor in the group waiting at the port pronounced that Kay had in fact been dead for 1-3 hours.

This tragic situation affected most, and I was selfishly glad I had kept Soph away from seeing Kay's body in the sheet. The girls were affected enough by the situation without seeing more. The towns' folk had seemed more than uncertain what to do in the situation and the stark reality of our remoteness hit the whole group. The tour guide, med students, and Swiss brother and sister waited with Kay's body while a boat went to fetch Puno police to investigate and confirm Kay's death. The rest of us were made to join another group to continue the route of our tour, some of its passengers unaware of what had taken place.

As a three we were more affected than most, having spent time with her the previous day. Definitely not in the frame of mind to continue our excursion. We partook in little, and the rest of the day passed with a sombre mood.

Rest in peace Katrina. - Chris

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