On the Sunday after the Alyson trip (December 22nd), Ken drove Avis out on what he calls the Ashridge Round via Wendover & Tring out & then, Whipsnade & the M1 home. Avis fell over in the Scratchwood Services & as usual, people rushed to help.
That night, just as Monday started, Avis tried to get up for a pee but kept struggling to grab & pull on the Zimmer for at least 10 minutes. Ken got up to help, with the consequence that Avis slid down onto the floor. Ken tried the Emergency Buzzer & they just said ring 999, which Ken did & at first, by mistake, they put him through to the police. Then, Ken got the ambulance service. After taking particulars, they said someone would ring Ken back. He wrapped Avis in the duvet from the property chest, took the ‘phone into bed with him (it only just reached) & awaited the Call. It came after quite a while &, when Ken had described Avis’ condition, the caller said he was upgrading the call. Ken put on a dressing gown & waited, not too long. They (Mark & Zac) had the usual portable hospital & thought that Avis, who shouted & screamed as usual when they tried to touch her, may have cracked her hip. With even more protest, they got her down stairs on a chair, tipping up the bookcase (Drama & Philosophy) on the landing & took her to UCH.
Later that day, Ken found Avis in A & E at University College Hospital. She was in Ward T10 on Tuesday &, to Ken’s delight, the consultant was the familiar Fiona Humphries. Ken visited Avis every day, except when the NHS took all day to deliver a hospital bed at home. (Ken had to walk both ways on Xmas Day, owing to no public transport).
While Avis had not broken anything, they found various infections & introduced another into her iron knee they could not get out. After three months, they gave up on her but getting her home was a performance, as the bed had no rails & she fell out several times, when they usually took her back into hospital. Eventually, a fitter came on a Saturday evening & fitted rails. That was the end of that problem & Council Carers (mostly from Nepal) came three time a day to tidy Avis up, while Ken cooked her meals as usual. However, after April 9th, Avis stopped eating & died around 08:00 on Thursday 17th April. The Comedy of Official Errors did not stop then, as the Carers rang the police, who were very kindly but Ken had to correct a host of errors the police had put in his statement. Then, the police took Avis off to the Coroner’s freezer, which happens if the police are involved. As a result, it took ages for Ken to get a Death Certificate.