My Adventure Tragedy #2

ENGLISH

Lembeh Island, North Sulawesi

Year: 2013

It was fun muck diving at Lembeh Island which is popular for. You may see nudi branches and pygmy seahorses over there. I was shooting for my TV travel programme called Pelesir. We were working together with a dive resort. So, the dive instructor took us around underwater with a small underwater writing slate so he can tell us and the TV audience about the sea biota around the diving spot. When covering a TV show sometimes it might take a little longer then it takes so we had a briefing before we enter the sea to hope for a smooth process.

We stopped at points where the dive instructor asked us too and showed us what’s unique with his sharp eye- where we often miss it in most times and wrote what he saw on his underwater slate.  We saw unique creatures and sea plants. And when he asked us to stop again abruptly – well he had a pointer stick to stop himself and pivot where he thrusted it into the sand- and we had to struggle a little bit to turn around ourselves. We stopped where he was pointing at which we were just inches from the sand but I felt that I was a little bit too low from the bottom. So, I know we mustn’t touch anything at the bottom of the sea because there might be any dangerous sea biota that we can’t see. I decided to use my left arm softly, just SOFTLY on the sand to push me a little upwards without putting pressure at all to lift my body up for buoyancy. My left arm felt a sting instantly just like a jellyfish sting. I thought it was from the jellyfishes because we actually had tiny stings during the dive and mine was around the neck area but everything was okay. After, we came back to the dive resort, I saw my left arm below the wrist area were swollen and worse. It looks like I got burnt and the painful stinging area was in white yellowish colour while the surroundings was swollen. Still, I thought it was from the jellyfish because it felt the same. My stinging at the neck area had gone, so I thought this will go as well too. I went to the pantry and asked the locals. They mentioned a local name that I can’t remember but thought it was somewhat related to jellyfish and gave me a vinegar. I use cotton to soak it and pat at the swollen area. Well, the swollen part just gets bigger and bigger and I felt uncomfortable because it felt like it has pushed through under my skin and pressed one of my veins. Definitely the vinegar wasn’t a help at all. After we had cover our travelling programme for Lembeh Island, me and my crew happen to pay a short visit to the head of Rukun Tetangga (RT) in Lembeh Island. Our local friend recommended us to go there first before we leave for Tomohon – a city in North Sulawesi – because the RT was a Dutch man now Indonesian. So, it was interesting. We said hi and everything and I told him about my arm. He instantly brought out a book about underwater biota especially about fishes and corals and pointed to the fire coral which was one of the corals that you want to avoid and he reads about the symptoms and treatments and he mentioned something about amputation. This immediately scares me! Or maybe he was just making me scared. I don’t know! I wasn’t concentrating. I still want to go out for more adventure I said to myself. So, I was a little desperate. I mean there wasn’t a doctor or clinic at Lembeh Island also at the land on our way to Tomohon unless we head to Manado (capital city of North Sulawesi) first and go to the hospital for check-up. For temporary time, he gave me an anti-infection cream in a small tube that was already been used and should be just enough for me to use it. He said that my arm has been infected. So, I used it straight away and on the road towards Tomohon. I felt relieved that the swollen has slowly begin to shrink and the burnt-like area (hot feeling sensation) had slowly gone away too – even it had gave me a scar. I thanked the RT for the cream. I continued my work shooting with a stress free feeling. I tell you, I was so lucky to pay a visit to the Head of Household place and the cream had been a must have for my travelling ever since!

Moral of the Story:

1. Eventhough at hard times during underwater try not to touch the bottom of the sea or sand area as much as you can.

2. Don’t touch what seems to look beautiful because usually they are dangerous.

3. Don’t panic.

4. Always bring your first aid kit.

5. Study about the sea biota as much as you can so you would be more ready to face it.

6. Never underestimate all kinds of small adventure activities.

Indonesian Summary

Pulau Lembeh, Sulawesi Utara

Tahun: 2013

Di Pulau Lembeh, saya sedang shooting untuk program travelling saya bernama Pelesir. Kami mengangkat tema mengenai Muck Dive yang populer disana.

Kami waktu itu kerjasama dengan sebuah dive resort sehingga seorang instruktur dive menemani kami dengan membawa papan tulis kecil agar dia bisa menulis dan menyampaikan biota laut yang ada di dive spot untuk disampaikan tidak hanya kepada kami tetapi kepada pemirsa dirumah juga. Sudah beberapa titik kami berhenti sesuai dengan arahan instruktur dive dan dia memperlihatkan kepada kami binatang dan tanaman laut yang unik seperti pygmy seahorse dan nudi branch. Memang membutuhkan kejelian mata untuk melihat semua itu. Pada saat kami melanjutkan diving lagi, tiba-tiba instruktur divenya ingin menunjukkan sesuatu kepada kita. Alhasil kita putar badan dan nyamperin dia dengan sedikit perjuangan. Posisinya sangat dekat dengan pasir. Dia bisa menahan dan memutarkan badannya dengan menggunakan bantuan pointer stick dengan menusukannya ke pasir. Karena saya merasa badan saya sangat dekat dengan pasir, saya memutuskan untuk SEDIKIT mendorong badan saya keatas dengan LEMBUT dan TANPA tenaga dengan menggunakan lengan kiri saya. Ini benar-benar TANPA dorongan yang kuat. Dan seketika itu juga, tangan saya-yang kena bagian pasir dibagian bawah pergelangan tangan- merasakan sebuah sengatan secara tiba-tiba. Rasanya sih seperti tersengat ubur-ubur. Lalu saya pikir nanti juga akan hilang karena kami juga merasakan sedikit sensasi sengatan ubur-ubur pada saat diving dan saya merasakannya diarea leher namun bukan hal yang perlu dikhawatirkan karena rasa sengatannya pun hilang seiring waktu. Tapi setelah kami selesai shooting untuk muck dive dan kembali ke dive resort rasa sengatannya di tangan saya masih ada. Malah makin lama semakin membengkak. Bentuknya seperti kena luka bakar. Dibagian sengatannya berwarna putih kekuningan dan sekitarnya sudah membengkak dan melebar. Saya akhirnya kebagian dapur dan menanyakannya kepada orang local. Mereka sih menyebutkan suatu bahasa local yang saya pikir ada hubungannya dengan ubur-ubur. Akhirnya mereka memberikan saya cuka untuk mengobati lukaku. Saya lalu mengambil kapas dan mengoleskannya. Tapi ya, tidak membuahkan hasil. Malah tangan saya semakin bengkak dan sengatan perihnya masih berasa. Selain itu, rasanya seperti sudah menekan ke salah satu nadiku. Ketika kita sudah selesai shooting, kami harus melanjutkan shooting episode berikutnya di Tomohon. Tapi kata teman local kami, alangkah sebaiknya untuk mampir ke Ketua RT Pulau Lembeh karena menariknya dulu dia adalah warga Belanda tapi sekarang sudah menjadi WNI. Kami jadinya mampir ketempatnya, say hi kemudian saya bercerita mengenai luka ditanganku. Dia bergegas mengambil buka tentang biota laut terutama mengenai ikan dan koral. Dia langsung menunjukkan kepada bagian koral api yang sebaiknya kita hindari. Dia lantas membaca gejala dan cara pengobatannya kemudian menyebutkan mengenai amputansi. Karena saya kurang berkonsentrasi saya tiba-tiba kaget. Saya masih ingin melakukan banyak petualangan dalam hidup saya. Saya mendadak sedikit stress karena di Pulau ini dan di daratan menuju Tomohon tidak ada klinik atau dokter kecuali kita mampir di Kota Manado dan mencari rumah sakit dulu lalu saya diperiksa dan diobati. Ketua RT tersebut akhirnya memberikan saya salep anti infeksi yang sudah terpakai namun cukup untuk dioleskan buat luka saya. Dia bilang tangan saya sudah terinfeksi. Saya segera mengoleskannya dan kamipun harus pamit untuk melanjutkan perjalanan. Setelah beberapa jam kemudian saya menjadi sangat lega karena terlihat mengempes dan luka putihnya menciut. Saya terus mengobatinya beberapa hari kemudian dan sangat bersyukur berangsur hilang dan tanganku sembuh. Lukanya meninggalkan bekas sedikit. Saya berterima kasih kepada Ketua RT tersebut dan bersyukur karena kami sempat mampir ke tempatnya. Krim anti infeksi tersebut menjadi sebuah barang yang wajib dibawa ketika saya sedang traveling!

Cerita Moralnya:

1. Dalam keadaan sesulit apapun kita harus berusaha untuk tidak mengenai dasar laut atau pasir.

2. Jangan memegang yang tampak indah karena biasanya membahayakan.

3. Jangan panik.

4.Selalu sedia Pertolongan Pertama.

5. Sebisa mungkin pelajari biota laut sehingga kita akan lebih siap mengahadapinya.

6. Jangan pernah menyepelekan kegiatan petualangan sekecil apapun.