[Leica] More Adventures at Cutlass Court

[Howard Cummer]

Last Saturday morning son-in-law Ian and myself went to check on the eaglet at Cutlass Court.

Here is my usual rig - the Z7 with the 200 - 500 VR zoom with the 1.4 Extender on my Manfrotto tripod

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7578.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7578.jpg.html>

Ian was there with the D500 and the 300mm f4.0 Pf.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7613.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7613.jpg.html>

While setting up I started to feel faint, for about 15 seconds, and then I blacked out,
and fell crashing into the tripod with the camera attached. Ian called 911 and the ambulance
arrived in a few minutes. They checked for broken bones, etc and sat me up to try and walk
me out to the ambulance as the stair case was too narrow for the big Gurney.
I blacked out again and the fire department was called.  The station is just down the hill from Cutlass Court
so the fire crew arrived quickly. They used a clam shell stretcher to get me to the ambulance and
then I was whisked to the Health Centre to be triaged by the Doctor on Call. The discussion was
whether a helicopter was available. But all three medi-vac ‘copters were in the air so I was
assigned to a water ambulance and driven to Thieves Bay (where we whale watch) for pick up.
They took me to Swartz Bay where another ambulance was waiting to take me to Saanich
Peninsula (SaanPen) Hospital. I was overnight in emergency with a Holter on and released
the next afternoon. Stayed in Victoria to have a 48 hour Holter test and came back to
Pender yesterday.

Here’s what I looked like at the worst point of the recovery:

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7649.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSCA7649.jpg.html>

I get Holter results this afternoon from my GP and have a tele-consult with my cardiologist on
Wednesday. Universal Health Care works pretty well in such a medical crisis. Direct cost to me: zero.

Going to see the eaglet tomorrow with an island photo friend who is also a Doctor. 
There will be pictures, of course.

Howard

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSC_7762.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/Canada+2020/Birds/DSC_7762.jpg.html>

PS: The only damage to the camera rig was a cracked Lens hood. When I woke up on the deck
the first thing I asked Ian was “Is the camera okay?” I have my priorities!!