On January 4 two other PCVs came to Antsohihy on their way home from vacation and to stay with me for the night. Kateri, Molly and myself decided to go out for dinner in town and got caught in the rain. We were enjoying ourselves, so we just slowed our pace and didn’t head back to my house until 930. The walk back in the mud was challenging, so we walked in a single file line avoiding the worst puddles. I happened to be at the back. Just a few meters from my house everything suddenly went dark. When I became aware of my surroundings again, I was sitting on the ground leaning against my door in excruciating pain and Kateri was gently mopping up my face. Apparently, someone came up behind me with a large blunt object and knocked me unconscious with just one sharp blow to the back of my head. He wrestled the bag off my body as Kateri ran at him and Molly called for help. The night was a blur, but I was on a plane the next morning with a doctor and EMT and in the ICU at Unitas hospital in Pretoria, South Africa less than 24 hours after being attacked. My injuries were not too bad; the worst was a skull fracture and some bleeding in my brain. I spent nearly a month in South Africa (in the hospital then a guest house near the PC office) when some political unrest started in Madagascar. The PC wanted me to have a few more tests and some more recovery time, so I was sent to the states where I stayed for nearly a month. I had to wait for my health to improve and for the unrest in Madagascar to settle before I could return.
I tried to keep everything quiet for several reasons. The first reason being that I did not want anyone to worry. The second was because I did not have any answers; I did not know if I would be medically separated from PC, if I would be able to return, or how well I would recover. The third reason still holds true- It was difficult to face everything that happened. I did not want to relive everything over and over, and I had trouble believing this drama was actually my life.
Finally, the doctors said I was recovering well and should escape without any long-term problems. The unrest seemed to be settling in Madagascar, so I boarded a plane and flew back to rejoin my friends.
