You Are Still Here

In my job as an electrician, I often have to work on high scaffoldings, on ropes or on the roof. One hot and cloudy day at the beginning of September, we went to hang a billboard downtown. My boss called and said he wanted us to hang one more billboard on the next street, Na Prikopech. We did not take our ropes because the building was being reconstructed and the scaffolding was already there. Therefore, we used old ropes. We were about to hang the billboard when my rope got caught on the next scaffolding. I tried to release it but could not, so I walked on one side of the scaffolding holding the side rail. When I leaned on the rail with my body weight, the left side of the rail slipped out, and I fell to the ground among all the construction. I could not move at all. I was only able to turn my head around, and I was very cold. I cannot describe the pain. I fell from a height of 20 metres down to the ground. If I had fallen a little bit further, I would have been impaled on the construction. I remember everything, even when they took me into the ambulance. I lost consciousness only after they gave me an opiate. It was September 4 when I died and after 3 days, on September 7, I was born again. I felt very strange; I kept waking up and falling asleep again. At one moment, I had the feeling that I could hear Sri Chinmoy's song, The Invocation, so I folded my hands and sang. It was very special. When I opened my eyes, I saw some girl disciples standing in the doorway, singing the Invocation. I am so grateful to Guru, to the disciples and also to the excellent doctors and nurses, because without their help I would not have been able to walk again. One doctor came to see me after they transferred me to another section. When he saw me he smiled and said, "Oh Martin, you are still here? I shall never forget that operation!"

Martin (Prague)