Time to meet the cousins and a little nightime medical drama

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Today is to be another of those special days we have had on this adventure and the opportunity to meet 3 of my cousins all in one day.
We had a good nights sleep in our new home for the next 2 weeks and had a leisurely breakfast to be ready to meet up with cousins Rhona and Jean and also Rhonas husband Eric who were travelling up from nearby Leeds to stay the night.There may also be an opportunity to meet cousin Iain and his wife Christine who live just down the road from Settle at Long Preston.We had timed our arrival and stay in Settle just right as Iain and Chris had only just come back from a cruise holiday in Alaska.
We wandered around to the Golden Lion Hotel where we had Rhona,Eric and Jean were to stay and we had arranged to meet about 11.30am.
Just as we arrived at the pub a red VW drove by on the main street and Eric spotted us about the same time I thought I had recognised them in the car.We have met Rhona and Jean once before when they came out to NZ in 1991 on holiday.
The family connection was on my Dad's side of the family through his sister Jean who lived much of her life in Leeds.My Mum and Dad had been to visit Jean on one occasion and my father had at least one other trip back on his own that I can remember.
It is strange sometimes how you wonder whether you will bond with family you have never or rarely ever met but on this occasion there was never any doubt that the family feeling wouldn't be there.
After they got themselves settled into their room at the pub they came around to our house and we had a lunch of pizza and sandwiches(for Eric who wasn't that keen on pizza!!) and talked for several hours!!!
Rhona told us how close her family were of moving their home to NZ back in the late 50's but that didn't happen and they continued to grow up and live in the Leeds area.
We talked about my fathers family and especially his mother and father who remarried after Jane(my grandmother died) and how that split the family as my step grandmother wasn't really accepted by her step children.
We came closer to establishing the year my grandfather died which we needed to do so that we can do more research on the family when we get to spend some time in Edinburgh in early July.
While we were chatting away cousin Iain from Long Preston(just down the road)made contact and we arranged to drive down there for afternoon tea.
We all(5 of us) climbed into the VW and Eric drove us down to Long Preston where we spent another couple of throughly enjoyable hours talking about family.I had not met Iain before but like Rhona we got on well from the outset.
Its time like these that we wished we had done all this years ago rather than leaving it so long to make the contacts.
Eric had booked dinner for us at the Golden Lion back in Settle so after a full afternoon we headed back the 3 or 4 miles to Settle to change and spend more time together over dinner.
We duly met up again with Rhona and Eric and Jean for a beer before dinner and then went on into the pubs dining room.
Gretchen ordered the Gammon (ham)steak that she has been hanging out for since we arrived in the UK and with a trio of sausages on the menu my choice was easy.
I also joined Eric in the starter of black pudding with mustard sause which was very tasty.
As we were coming to the end of our dinner Eric suddenly turned very pale and his head slumped onto his chest as if he had passed out,which of course he had.Thankfully he remained in his chair and Rhona and Gretchen jumped to his aid.
Fortunately there was a woman who had been a nurse who was in the bar and came to Eric's assistance.By the time she arrived Eric had come back around but was very pale.The paramedics were called and after Eric was checked out in the ambulance and it was found his blood pressure was very low it was decided that it would be best to have him looked over at the A&E in the district hospital about 20 miles away.
Rhona and Jean rode in the back of the ambulance with Eric and the paramedic and we followed in Renee Renault.
This little medical adventure would give us a look into the British health system which as it turned out is similar to our own in NZ with very dedicated nurses working in crowded A&E departments and understaffed.
There is one for sure though that when you arrive at an A&E by ambulance you do get to seen right away.
By the time we got there Eric's condition and blood pressure were returning to normal bu the nurse took blood to test so then it was a matter of waiting for thoses tests to be completed and a doctor checking Eric's condition before we drove back to Settle.
All this took some time and all the while the waiting room in the A&E remained very busy with all the seats occupied.A&E can be a microcosim of the area or town in which it is situated and this one was no different.There was even a guy with handcuffs on in the waiting area and a policewoman sitting with him.What he was there for we never did find out!!
Eric continued to feel better and his colour returned as we waited for the blood test results to come back and a doctor attend to make sure he could be discharged.Time always seems to drag in these situations but eventually he was given the all clear and just before 1am we climbed into Renee Renault and drove back home to Settle.We were all thankful the British health system from the ambulance through to the attention and treatment he received at the A&E had worked to make sure he got good care along the way.
It had been a day that we would not forget although not necessarlily for the medical adventure but for the day that cousins from the most far flung countries of the world met and came together as family.

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