Activism & ... Injury

IssueAugust 2014
Comment

ImageI was injured at a blockade once. My affinity group was at one of the gates of the base; I was in the support group, I wasn’t sitting on the ground. I tried to put myself between them and the police, a policeman grabbed my arm and he swung me away. I twisted my ankle, I rolled around a bit in pain. The first aid person said it was a sprain, gave me a bandage and painkillers. I hobbled off.

I was shocked, I suppose. It took quite a long time to get over, it took over a year to get better. I still feel it occasionally.

I couldn’t play football for ages. I love playing football!

It was really nice to have a friend look after me that night, a friend living nearby. I remember thinking that if I hadn’t had a friend to stay with that night
.

If I’d been going straight home that day, that would have been really unpleasant. I was also really glad to have a friend meet me and carry my stuff when I got to the station back home. It’s important, the support people offer, even if they’re not directly involved in an action.

How has it affected me? Well, I think I’d try to be a little bit more careful in those kinds of situations in the future. Perhaps I was a bit gung-ho. I’d do the same thing again, but with a bit more awareness.

It was quite a bad sprain. My foot went right over. It didn’t tear anything, and nothing broke, but
 it was a bad sprain.

This is anonymous, isn’t it? It sounds a bit pathetic!

Man, 40s

Topics: Radical living