Momnesia

Hope You Feel Better Soon, Sara

AUGUSTA, GA. - A woman passed out outside the office about 30 minutes. Pedestrians walked around her, until someone from the office saw her lying on her back, spread-eagle, on the sidewalk. Her flip-flops had been kicked off, and her purse was tossed away from her. She stared, unseeing, at the sky, while white foam frothed from her mouth. A horrible "hhhhgggg.... hhhhggggg" sound told us she was struggling to breathe.

Jason ran in: "Hey, there's some lady, like, dying out here on the sidewalk."

Erin called 911. I rolled her on her side so she could breathe and stroked her back while she regained her breath. Heather went through her bag for medication and ID. Her name was Sara. She had no driver's license, but she had some kind of ID. No meds. No medic alert bracelets or dog tags.

We'd never seen her before - or never noticed her, anyway. She was clean, but her clothes were 20 years outdated and her cheap, thin polyester shirt easily showed through so her bra straps were visible from the in the back.

Her name was Sara. She was alone.

It took the paramedics - it seemed - 20 minutes to get there. In reality, it was probably five. But knowing there is a fire station at 10th Street really pissed me off. I wonder how long it took for the dispatcher to relay the information.

They checked her blood sugar with a small device, and by the time they had loaded her up on the the gurney, she was regaining her faculties, sitting up and rubbing her forehead in confusion. Most likely, it was an epileptic seizure. It would explain the lack of driver's license, the obvious suddenness of the attack, and the relative fast regaining of consciousness. It doesn't explain the obliviousness of passersby.

The paramedics milled around afterwards, laughing and telling jokes with the firemen while the ambulance wheeled her off to MCG.

She never said a word.