Seizure At The Gym

 Work last night was the busiest it’s been since I started.  Was CRAZY!  But I went to gym after work because I wanted to fit it in before I had to go to the new housemates place to help him move all his stuff, which was at 7:45am.  I finished at 6am, so I figured I’d have enough time to fit in a gym session.

There were only 2 other people there, a guy and a girl.  The girl was running on the treadmill and the guy was up the end doing weights.  I’d done all my usual exercises and was using the ab machine, pretty much behind where the girl was running.  There’s only really one of every machine so you’ve gotta use what you can.  I noticed watching the logo on the treadmill she was using going around quite fast.  She had been running for quite some time.  She turned it off and I watched the logo spin around slower and slower as the machine’s power shut off.

That’s when she put one foot off the machine onto the ground.  I heard a surprised grunt come from her.  

At first I’d thought she fell.  Then I realised it was something much more serious.  She stumbled, whilst still on the treadmill, so fell, lengthways across the treadmill, and her head was hanging off the side.  She wasn’t moving.  She was breathing though!  I was like ‘SHIT!’ and ran over to her.  I tried to talk to her, but it’s as though she was unconcious.  She was breathing really heavily and I thought to myself that I had to lift her head so that she was at least able to breathe properly.  I assessed the situation.  Thank fuck she had turned the treadmill off!  I called out to the other way.  He had headphones in, but noticed me waving frantically at him.  I asked him to call an ambulance.  He did, pretty much straight away.  I heard him talking to someone on the other end.

In this time, I was holding this girls head up, just so it wasn’t hanging backwards off the treadmill.  I made sure before I moved her that she hadn’t injured her neck or anything.  I had seen her fall and it was a direct fall onto the treadmill.  She didn’t hit anything else on the way down, thank god.  I was more concerned about her breathing.  I wanted to move her off the treadmill, but it was pretty much impossible. 

She came around.  She noticed her and scampered back away from me, startled.  She said to me, ‘Who are you!?’

I said that my name was Matt and tried to explain that she had collapsed.  I tried to ask her name, but I knew I was getting nowhere.  I was too close.

"How did you get in here?" she barked at me.

I said ‘I work out here, just like you do.  Don’t worry, you just fell, the ambulance is on it’s way’

‘No it’s not!’ she said, scared.

She then (stupidly) stood up and made a run for it, back towards the far part of the gym the other guy had been working out in.  Of course she didn’t make it very far.  She groaned again,. and crumpled in a heap on the floor.

I knew she wasn’t going anywhere this time.  She said that she’d really hurt her shoulder.  Finally, some cohearancy!  I looked up to see where the hell this ambo was.  No-one had arrived yet.  I finally saw the other guy outside, waving down the ambulance.  He let them inside and they made their way over.  One of the ambo guys asked the girl her name and he said ‘Your name’s Kathy.’

More than I could get out of her.  I guess the uniform was comfortable.  Not some weirdo in gym clothes.  I said to the other guy, ‘So what’do we do?  Keep working out?"  He said ‘I don’t see why not’, and we did.  A couple of other guys came in to use the gym and one guy asked me what was going on.  I explained that I’m pretty sure the girl had a seizure once she stepped off the treadmill.  I didn’t wanna say too much else.  I felt bad saying that.  The poor girl was probably too much in the spotlight already.  

That was pretty much it.  The other guy finished his workout and joked to me on the way out that maybe our next workout can be less dramatic.  I laughed and agreed, and thanked him for his help.

Thank fuck that chick wasn’t there by herself!  She very well could’ve been.  And if I hadn’t have been right there when she collapsed, who knows when the other guy would’ve noticed her, being up the other end of the gym with headphones in his ears.

I saw the ambos wheel her away on a stretcher.  It was sortly after that one of the staff arrived to start her day.  I wasn’t sure if she had seen the ambo’s on her way in, so I asked.  She said she hadn’t, but it was obvious she was looking through the video footage to see what had happened.  I explained to her exactly what i saw.

I tried to ring my housemates to explain I’d be late home, because of all this, but neither answered.  My landlord rang me back when I got to the city and I explained everything.  He says it’s fate that I happened to be there.

I got home and pretty much had to leave.  I’d had a really busy shift and then this happened, all before 7am lol.  We packed most of the new housemates stuff in a ute and we have it all in the house now.  Hoisting the mattress and ensemble over the balcony was hard work, especially the mattress, which was so heavy, but was the only way we were gunna get it in the house.

On the drive back, I had a phone call.  It was Jett’s gym –  A lady asking if I could fill out an incident report form.  They must’ve gone through the photos to recognise me to ring my number.  No other way they would’ve known my number.  She then asked if she could email it to me.

I just checked my email and its there, but I can’t print it out cos I’m pretty sure my printer is fucked.

I’ve gotta sleep soon, but it’s fun getting to know my new housemate on his first day here.  He’s gotta set up and move a few more things yet I’m pretty sure.  He has a massive screen TV, which is going to be such a difference to my little 34cm bedroom tv, which we are currently using in the loungeroom haha.  Sucks I’m getting tired though.  Damn doing nightshifts.