Tuesday 31 March 2009

Tubthumping

Okay, I'll admit, that's a pretty obscure title for a post, but I really couldn't help it. Allow me to explain.

I've been watching a lot of Bones recently, and that song was mentioned in one of the episodes I saw a few days ago.

But, more importantly, for anyone unfamiliar with Chumbawumba's anthemic piece, it features the phenomenal line "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down".

Alright, why is this relevant to anything at all?

Well, I mentioned a few days ago that my Wednesday night RP group may be getting an extra player this week... and it looks like it is.

Alright, so what's so special about that?

Time for me to tell you all a little tale. Some of you may have heard this already, but please bear with me.

For the last 22 years, I've been friends with a great guy named Adam. He's pretty much the nicest person I've ever met... no, scratch that, he IS the nicest person I've ever met. He qualifies quite easily up there as one of the best friends I've ever had. He and another of my friends, Jim, were the Best Men at my wedding. The two of them come as a package deal.

On June 17 2007, very early in the morning, Adam was attacked on the driveway of his parent's home, where he lived. Not to put too fine a point on it, the attack was cowardly and vicious, and a clear attempt to murder Adam. I won't go into the details of why.

Adam suffered massive physical trauma, including severe cranial damage - a HUGE chunk of his skull was shattered. To get an idea, take your left hand and place it on the left side of the top of your head, with the heel of your hand on your hair line. The area covered by your hand (including your fingers), is what was destroyed.

It is only thanks to the quick action of the paramedics and the sterling work of the Neuro-trauma ward at the John Radcliffe in Oxford that saved his life. He was comatose for weeks, and has still not fully recovered.

Physically, at least.

Recently (at the end of February), Adam finally got his skull-plate installed. He just spent 18 months with only a partial skull, and now he has a titanium plate.

"Why, oh why is this relevant, Chem?", I hear you cry. Simple. The returning player is Adam. For the first time since the attack, he's coming back to roleplaying, and he's coming over tonight, too.

He got knocked down, but he got up again.

4 comments:

  1. That's pretty amazing. And pretty scary, in about equal measure.

    Hope he enjoys the game.

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  2. I recall Adam, yes, and it is indeed, Stephen. I remember hearing about this last year, and the fact that he puleld through is testament to human will, endurance, and the skill of the country's medical staff.

    Also, Chemlak? Great song that.

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  3. Thanks for the comments, folks. Just so you know, Adam read this post last night, and spent most of the time giggling about it - which is pretty typical of him, really.

    On a side-note, the man who attacked Ads got sent down on a life sentence (minimum 12 years to serve, I believe).

    Ads is currently asleep in my spare bedroom, but might log onto my home PC at some point today, and there's a moderate- to high- chance that he might log into CoH on my spare account (I won't post the global here) and spend some time bimbling around. If anyone happens to be on and sees a toon on that account, feel free to send him a /tell (along with instructions on how to use the in-game chat system).

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  4. Great to see Ads back and about in the D&D world. ch looking forward to seeing him again after a REALLY long time and reminding myself of why he's always been the life (Jim's the soul!) of the D&D party =)

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