The "One Tough Friend" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking on one of my new friends that I got to know while on the island of Provedenciales.  Randy owns a unit at the Ocean Club resort and had his friend Tom staying at the unit during the time we were on the island.  Randy and his wife as well as Tom and his wife live in New York and I was checking to make sure they survived hurricane Sandy.  Randy emailed me shortly afterward and told me that both their houses were spared, but they were without power for quite some time.  Then he went on to tell me that Provo was not as lucky as it passed by the island which is in the Caribbean Sea.  The island was hit with large waves and surf for quite some time.  The surf broke Randy's boat off it's mooring and ended up turned over on the beach.  He happened to be luckily watching the ocean from his unit at the time and ran down to rescue it.  He and two other men managed to flip it back over, but a huge wave struck the boat just as they had righted the boat.  Landed on Randy's left, breaking it in two places.  This happened on a Sunday when the clinic happened to be closed so he had to borrow a pair of crutches from the resort's office in order to get around.  The next day he want to the clinic and saw the doctor who recommended he see the island orthopedic surgeon immediately, since the doctor suspected Randy would need surgery.  On Tuesday Randy saw the surgeon who told him he broke both the tibia and fibula bones at the ankle and would need a metal plate and alignment.  He made arrangements for airfare to the states and the following Saturday traveled to New York for his Monday appointment with a surgeon.  Haven't heard how the surgery went yet, but my wife, Carol, and I have talked often about moving to an island in the Caribbean.  Sounds neat and fun, but when things like this happen it makes you re-think what could happen to you.  What would have happened to Randy had he had a heart attack while lifting his boat.  Wait until the next day to see the doctor, since the clinic wasn't open?  May not have been alive by then!  Things on the islands always are at a slower pace, which is what we really like, but in cases like this when medical treatment is needed you can't wait.  Our favorite island and island of choice if we were to move to the Caribbean is St. Martin.  They do have a university where they train doctors so we may be OK if we were to move there.  But, I then asked Carol if she knew if they have retirement homes such as we do in the USA.  May be thinking of one of them in the future and would have to check on that on St. Martin.  Tough choice!  Do we want to live in paradise where it is constantly 80-85 degrees with ocean water which is the same temp and chance some major medical problem that can't be treated by island personnel or do we stay put in Lancaster where outside right now the wind is blowing and the rain is coming down in sheets.  What would you do?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.