One Step Beyond – Bosnia – People – Dejan Babalj
Dejan Babalj
At the time they didn't have the medication to calm me down. And the doctor was late. I was shouting for help and asking for water. But of course, before surgery they don't give you any water. The next time I became conscious I was lying in the operating room. They cut off my clothes. I was losing blood. And the doctor was saying to me: "OK then. Everything will be fine." And because I saw that my toes were still connected somehow with the skin, I asked him: "Can you save my foot?" And he said: "Calm down. Just live. Everything will be fine."
What I forgot to tell you: Earlier, when I stepped on that brick, a friend of mine said that I yelled really loudly. I can't remember the exact moment I stepped on the mine. I only remember my next step. And how I felt the pain in my hip, around my kidneys. And I think I was lucky I didn't fall down, but managed to stay on my feet. If I'd fallen down on the left side of the road, I'd have fallen into a heavily mined area, a big minefield. If I'd fallen into it, most probably I'd have fallen on a second mine. And that's almost luck.
As I said, after I stepped on the mine, my friend tied a wire around my leg. It wasn't just normal wire. The only wire you could find in that area was wire used for making rockets, rockets are used to destroy tanks and vehicles. It's really thin, strong wire. He somehow found a piece of wire and tied it around my leg. In the hospital, the doctors had problems cutting the wire because it was so strong, and my leg was swelling up around the it. It was a big, big problem for the doctors.
I think of that picture, seeing my leg blown off. My foot turned all the way to the back. The blood dripping and spurting out really far away from me. That's kind of crazy, you know? Seeing something happening to your leg. But I looked at it and thought "Wow! What's happening just to me?" At that moment you are taking in so much information. But that's like really all in one second, you know? And then after awhile I thought: "Oh! Look at this! I've lost my leg! I stepped on a mine!!" And then: "Oh damn – this is not good! Ach! Stop it!"
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