We had spent an amazing christmas at Daniel’s parents place in Germany, also together with my parents and my old dog Spot of course. It was amazing to be all together. Certainly worth leaving the New Zealand summer for the cold European winter… Just after Christmas we decided to go to Switzerland. Together with Daniel’s brother Otto and Josefien who is a Dutch friend that I met traveling in New Zealand. Daniel’s sister and some cousins are working in a ski area over there, and we thought it would be nice to spent New Years eve together with them in the mountains. The first two days were great! There wasn’t so much snow though, so we just did some smaller hikes and spent time with friends and family. But of course we wanted some more action. So we packed some sleds on our backs and started hiking up a snowy mountain, with the plan to sled down again. The view got more amazing the further we got up and we even got some heavy snowfall once we reached the cable station. It was truly a winter wonderland. Heading down turned out more tricky than we had expected. It was not always easy to find the best paths and big patches of snow were very icy. Daniel and I were already a little ways ahead, going very slowly down an icy slope, when suddenly we see Josefien flying by. Her sled had gotten onto a big icy patch and there was no stopping it anymore. We yelled at her to get of the sled but before we knew what was happening the sled and Josefien started bouncing and flipping downhill. I was the first to reach her – she was laying on the cold snow, eyes wide open but no reaction. A lot of thoughts went through my head as I starred into her bright blue eyes. It was scary and we had to take action quick. Daniel and Otto were still trying to get down while I was speaking to Josefien trying to notice whether she could hear me. When I asked her to blink her eyes she did, but that was all! I got some more hope but the situation was bad. We were halfway a deserted mountain (the lifts weren’t operating due to whatever, so there was nobody except us) and darkness was coming fast. We very carefully moved her off the ice onto the sled and gave her our jackets in the attempt of keeping her warm. She slowly came back to consciousness a bit as Daniel and Otto were trying to call the Emergency Department. There was blood coming from a wound on her head but it didn’t look to bad. And except for a very strong headache she didn’t have much pain. I was guessing that she had a concussion – and I was very glad she didn’t start feeling ill or throwing up for now. Rescue was our only hope as it seemed. We couldn’t get her down the mountain like this and besides that it would be dark before we could have managed.

While we waited for rescue, I sat next to Josefien hugging and talking to her in the attempt to keep her warm and awake. I was also shaking partly because of the icy cold going through my bones but also because of the shock of course. Finally the rescue helicopter came buzzing down with bright spotlights and picked Jo up and I also joined them – as a translator, mental support and… spectator of the landscape 🙂 which I had to thank her for afterwards, because I have never been in such a machine and it was an interesting experience to see all these things plus the beautiful view of course. The nurses and doctors in the hospital were all very helpful and friendly. Luckily I was allowed to be with Josefien all the time so I could watch and comfort her – I even watched her head being stitched together again. So all in all it was a very educational Old Years Eve. We wished it would have been differently but were very happy that she was alright in the end and only had to stay in Hospital till the next day. We stayed in the Hospital for a few more hours, trying to celebrate the years’ change a little. We decorated the hospitals’ bed with some break lights and the hours went by as we talked and even laughed. Finally we had to let Josefien rest and drove back to town where we stayed, in hope of celebrating with the others and getting some rest ourselves… but that didn’t happen.