Dear Editor:
On April 15, a Tuesday afternoon, I went on my regular power walk on the Seawalk in West Vancouver. The day was pretty. There were plenty of people walking, jogging, and walking their dogs on leashes.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw on my right a woman sitting on the bench with a beautiful cream and brown dog, and people passing me on the left with another dog. Suddenly the brown dog ran in front of my legs from right to left, my feet got tangled in his leash and I fell on my face on the graveled concrete.
Luckily many people stopped. There was a doctor, a nurse and two other people who helped me to get up and sat me on the bench. I had a cut wound on the bridge of my nose from my glasses and my nose was bleeding. I had wounds on my forehead, my knees and hand. The doctor squeezed my nose to stop the bleeding. I had a headache, my nose hurt, and my eyes started to swell with blood.
The next morning, I went to my family doctor. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic with steroids to heal my wounds and prevent them from infection. She also suggested that I take a tetanus shot. I don’t have private health insurance, so I had to pay $81.82 out-of-pocket.
I hurt all over. I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days. I had a headache. I felt depressed.
On Wednesday, I missed my daughter’s final presentation of her graduation project that she worked on the entire year. I wasn’t there to see it with the rest of the family. I was sad.
We had booked a family Easter dinner for that Sunday in a restaurant celebrating my daughter’s birthday and her graduation. Can you imagine going to the restaurant with a headache and a face like that?
I love animals, love cats and dogs. When the policy allowing dogs on leashes on the Seawalk was introduced, many of my friends (and folks writing in to the North Shore News) expressed reservations and worries about safety. They worried about tripping over the running dogs. And now it happened. It looks like this policy is dangerous.
My doctor told me that I was very lucky that my glasses didn’t poke my eyes and that I didn’t break any bones.
I want the district to take under consideration revoking this policy before somebody falls and dies from a concussion. Before the change, dogs on the Seawalk were free to run on a long path behind the fence, and there’s also a large dog park in Ambleside.
I extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the four strangers who stopped to help me after my fall. Thank you to the young doctor, her friend, the nurse, and the mining engineer who walked me back to my car.
Gosia Jaszczewska
West Vancouver
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