It was almost 1.30am in the morning and I was still on my last processes of getting to bed and asleep when there was an almighty crash. At first I did not react to it as it was likely something falling out of a cupboard or something like that. The guys in my dorm, which sleeps 12 of us, are somewhat disorganised and these sorts of things often happen. But then I heard a faint call for help, "Rob, can you please turn on the light!"
It was time to investigate.
As soon as I turned on the light the reality of what had just happened became very clear. The top bunk of one of our beds had fallen down on top of the bottom bunk. Miguel, from the top bunk was pinned against the wall as only one side had given way and he had swung down heavily so that his bed was now on a 75 degree angle toward the wall. He clambered up to the high edge and gave a weak smile while I snapped his photo, and then we set about getting him and his bedding out of there and onto the floor.
The miracle here was that Jake, the normal occupant of the bottom bunk, was not yet in bed. He had been chatting with some friends on Skype and was only just returning to the room to retire. If he had have been in bed when this happened we are certain that he would have suffered some serious damage, especially in his shoulder and face. The incredible part is that Jake is normally in bed very early and tonight was a very unusual situation for him, which made us all the more glad that he was not underneath the collapsed mass of heavy wood.
This is very similar to
another incident that happened in Bariloche, but that one involved the girl on the bottom getting crushed. Jake was very lucky.
So tonight we pulled the remains of the top bunk out to the hallway outside and have left Miguel sleeping on the floor. Tomorrow I suspect that we will be changing the bunk for a new one. This one has seen the end of its useful life.
It was almost 1.30am in the morning and I was still on my last processes of getting to bed and asleep when there was an almighty crash. At first I did not react to it as it was likely something falling out of a cupboard or something like that. The guys in my dorm, which sleeps 12 of us, are somewhat disorganised and these sorts of things often happen. But then I heard a faint call for help, "Rob, can you please turn on the light!"
It was time to investigate.
As soon as I turned on the light the reality of what had just happened became very clear. The top bunk of one of our beds had fallen down on top of the bottom bunk. Miguel, from the top bunk was pinned against the wall as only one side had given way and he had swung down heavily so that his bed was now on a 75 degree angle toward the wall. He clambered up to the high edge and gave a weak smile while I snapped his photo, and then we set about getting him and his bedding out of there and onto the floor.