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Once again, friends, I need some advice.
In my current novel I run into two medical emergencies.
In one, a single mother is giving birth in a remote area of Guyana. She lives with grandparents in a house only accessible by boat, no electricity or running water. She can make it to a local hospital in the nearest town, which is about 40 minutes away, but that too is pretty remote; it does have an airfield connecting it to the capital Georgetown, but of course flights are irregular and it's small 6-seater planes. So a doctor could fly in if there's an emergency. The outcome is that I want the woman to die but the baby to survive. There would be a midwife or two at the hosptital and of course doctors but something goes wrong -- perhaps a "black-out" (power failure) and the generator (they would definitely have one) fails, or else it's just one of those things that the birth team is not up to, a bad position, too much bleeding and no blood -- or something, just as long as it's plausible and the (very young) mother dies.
The second emergency is a traffic accident in town involving a very young child, 3 years old. The child runs into traffic and is hit by a car. It's hit and miss for a few days, whether she'll live or not. She lives, but has permanent damage of some kind -- an ankle that never recovers, crushed limbs that can't be fixed, a permanent limp. Anything. Use your imagination! She goes to a private hospital and has good care, but nothing can correct it, not even sending her abroad. (She could possibly get good free treatment in Cuba). I just want the result to be something permanent, but not horrendously crippling. (Just enough to make someone feel guilty for life for not watching the child better!)
Hope one of you experts can help! I always enjoy your suggestions.
In my current novel I run into two medical emergencies.
In one, a single mother is giving birth in a remote area of Guyana. She lives with grandparents in a house only accessible by boat, no electricity or running water. She can make it to a local hospital in the nearest town, which is about 40 minutes away, but that too is pretty remote; it does have an airfield connecting it to the capital Georgetown, but of course flights are irregular and it's small 6-seater planes. So a doctor could fly in if there's an emergency. The outcome is that I want the woman to die but the baby to survive. There would be a midwife or two at the hosptital and of course doctors but something goes wrong -- perhaps a "black-out" (power failure) and the generator (they would definitely have one) fails, or else it's just one of those things that the birth team is not up to, a bad position, too much bleeding and no blood -- or something, just as long as it's plausible and the (very young) mother dies.
The second emergency is a traffic accident in town involving a very young child, 3 years old. The child runs into traffic and is hit by a car. It's hit and miss for a few days, whether she'll live or not. She lives, but has permanent damage of some kind -- an ankle that never recovers, crushed limbs that can't be fixed, a permanent limp. Anything. Use your imagination! She goes to a private hospital and has good care, but nothing can correct it, not even sending her abroad. (She could possibly get good free treatment in Cuba). I just want the result to be something permanent, but not horrendously crippling. (Just enough to make someone feel guilty for life for not watching the child better!)
Hope one of you experts can help! I always enjoy your suggestions.