The wonders of the World

It never ceases to amaze me just how good people are. Despite all the doom and gloom we have to endure, and the weather being pretty miserable too, I always find something to bring a smile to my face. Maybe for many people I’m just a hopeless optimist. Mmm…yes, quite possibly. All the same, I really get such a lift when I hear of something truly inspiring or in this case experience it directly myself.

Some of you may be aware that I’m preparing to take part in a cycle race in Iceland soon: 1,300km around the Icelandic coast, to be precise. There are 8 of us on our ‘Parkinsons Power’ team, and four of us live with this condition. In order to get in shape – and get used to the world’s least comfortable saddle – I’ve been doing a lot of cycling with my buddies Nigel and Jim. The fact that both of them are practically Tour de France standard has pushed me to my limits these past few months, and I’m very grateful to them both. Actually that’s not at all what I think of them when I’m trying to get out the door for 8am on Saturday. Doing anything outdoors at 8am on Saturday is something that happened in the dim and distant past when our children were…children!

Anyway, last week Nigel and I had a couple of hours free on Thursday afternoon and we decided to head off into the chilly early evening (chilly? June? Jeez…). We’d gone about 2km, came to a junction and then I fell over. Smack, down, direct skin and knee contact with less than yielding tarmac. Ouch! I mean, really Ouch; that stinging that you probably remember as a kid (at 8am some Saturday morning, perhaps?!). I looked at my knee yet again, tthe third occasion in as many weeks that this exact fall had happened. I’m taking forever to get used to these ‘lock in’ pedals. I got back on my bike and sort of cycled to the footpath. I had to stop. There was blood. I really felt sore – I was bloody sore, ok? What happened next shocked me.

‘Are you ok guys?’ a voice from behind me asked. I turned around as this gentleman went on: ‘I’m a physician in the clinic here, I can dress that wound if you wish?’. For anyone familiar with the Clonsilla Road in Dublin 15, we had ended up outside the Kirkfield Foot Clinic! I mean, another 50 metres and I wouldn’t be writing this story. I followed my new friend into his office, where he bathed and cleansed my aching knee, and bandaged it with just the right amount of pressure. I was delighted, and then asked him for his fee. I would have paid him anything. Guess what? He wouldn’t hear of it. He wished me well and I left his rooms stuck for words but bursting to tell everyone.

Nigel was amazed! I was amazed too, that Nigel was still there – I was gone a good 10 minutes. We had our cycle, thoroughly enjoyed it and kept referring back to what had happened! It was a simple act of kindness that transformed a painful situation into a wonderful experience that will never topple bad news off the top of the front page. But its real, it happened and it was inspiring in every way, and continues to be. Even now writing about it I’m back again at last Thursday, without the bloody pain in my knee of course.

It’s everywhere, the wonder of this world. At some point in my life I’m going to see Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Clonsilla Road is not on the list of the Seven Wonders of the World – at least as far as I’m aware. But there’s wonder in it! In all the Clonsilla Roads around the world (are there really other places called ‘Clonsilla’?), I bet there’s many a story we’ll never hear that can lift us and help remind us of the Wonders of the World!