I learned as a college student working at the mall that when I was walking to my car by myself late at night, I should swing my arms and take big steps. Predators would know that I’m not weak and it would be harder for them to grab me. The mall security guard would sometimes ask if he could walk me out, but I outweighed him about 30 pounds, so if we got attacked, I would probably do more of the fighting than he would.
Anyways, I’m walking, swinging my arms, and thinking about how independent I am when I hear a growl and feel a sharp pain in the back of my right leg. I recognized it as a dog bite, but because I’m used to getting bit by kids at work, I remained calm and kept walking with the dog attached to my leg. Thankfully a man yelled at the dog across the street and it fled. Maybe I should have turned around and went back to the mission house, but my first instinct was to walk to get Wi-Fi so that I could call my veterinarian friend Kat and ask for her advice. Normally I would just put a band aid on it, but I decided to take her advice and go to the hospital, just in case.
The next day one of our squad leaders and I went with a translator to the hospital, and although I like to pride myself on being a strong independent woman who can take care of herself, I had no choice but to let them take care of me. My translator had to advocate for me to the doctors and nurses because I couldn’t do it myself with the language barrier. And as I was receiving treatment, my squad leader called our insurance provider, collected all of my medical documents, and I really didn’t have to lift a finger. I talked to him about how hard it was for me to take the situation out of my own hands, but I decided to let them both take care of me because I was pretty helpless in the situation.
I ended up having to go to the hospital two more times for rabies shots and each time I had to let my guard down and ask for help from others. I never started foaming at the mouth and thankfully I’m still kickin’ today. I even celebrated my last rabies shot by climbing up to a tower for a nice view of the city. Never thought I’d celebrate a rabies shot, but here I am.
