December 7, 2024

Everyone hopes no major tragedy befalls them while traveling, but even as you hear stories of tourists getting injured or worse, you never think it will happen to you. That illusion shattered when I found myself lying in a ditch beside an overturned tuk-tuk I had been driving moments earlier. Shocked and disoriented, I scrambled to my feet and saw Francesca and our friend Ligaya trapped beneath the vehicle. I shouted to them, desperate for a response. At first, there was none.

Francesca, looking dazed but coherent, eventually assured me she was unhurt—at least, for the moment. Ligaya, however, seemed more seriously injured. Bewildered and bleeding from her ear, she needed help. Her husband, Matt, tried to lift her out of the tuk-tuk but lost his grip, causing her to tumble further into the water-filled ditch. Fortunately, several locals from a nearby restaurant rushed over, pulling both women to safety and seating them in chairs brought from the restaurant.

Francesca winced, cradling her wrist, which was now throbbing. As a medical professional, she suspected it was broken. Meanwhile, the locals cleaned the blood streaming from Ligaya’s ear, where her earring had been ripped out, leaving a deep gash. They even brought smelling salts, though Ligaya recoiled from them. A European man—likely an expat, not a short-term tourist—helped calm us, reassuring us that an ambulance was on its way.

A million thoughts raced through my mind. I was relieved both women were conscious, but were they truly okay? Would there be permanent damage? What about our kids? Matt and Ligaya’s 13-year-old twins and our three children were at their resort, oblivious to what had happened. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find my phone, likely lost in the crash, so I was not able to contact them. The reality of how life-altering this could be began to sink in.

How had it come to this?  Just weeks earlier, I had met Matt at a “Dad’s Night Out” event organized by the BLISS Worldschooling community in Koh Lanta, Thailand. We bonded over our shared American roots, Filipino spouses, and similar-aged children. Both of us were halfway through year-long worldschooling adventures, and our families quickly hit it off. We decided to arrange an adults-only evening, leaving the kids together at Matt’s resort.

I had rented a tuk-tuk for a day trip to the other side of the island so I offered to pick up Matt and Ligaya after dropping off the kids. The plan was simple: dinner at The Fat Monkey, then back to the resort to collect our children. Everything went smoothly at first. The kids were happily occupied, and we enjoyed a leisurely three-and-a-half-hour dinner, chatting and bonding. Over the course of the evening, each of us had two drinks, but we abstained during the final hour and a half.

As the restaurant emptied and staff began stacking chairs, we settled the bill and climbed into the tuk-tuk. On the ride there, the weight distribution had been balanced—Francesca in the back, Matt on the side and Ligaya in front. But on the return trip, Matt climbed in first, leaving the lighter two women towards the front. This turned out to be a costly mistake. With more experience, I might have recognized the issue and adjusted.

Confident in my driving, I matched the cruising speed of local tuk-tuks. As we neared the resort, I slowed to make the turn uphill. Shifting into a lower gear, the weight imbalance caused the front wheel to pop up. When it came down, the tuk-tuk veered toward the side of the road at excessive speed. What I thought would be a minor detour onto a grassy embankment turned catastrophic when the tall grass concealed a deep ditch. The tuk-tuk lurched violently, overturning with a jarring crash.

Miraculously, I had been thrown clear, landing on the embankment unscathed. Matt clung to the back support bars, avoiding serious injury. The women, however, had been flung forward into the support bars and roof before tumbling into the ditch. Locals quickly pulled us from the wreckage, their swift actions likely preventing further harm.  When the ambulence came and Francesca and Ligaya were placed inside I heard Matt say in a panicked voice "She doesn't remember anything. She doesn't even know she is in Thailand".  Fear jolted me like stepping on a live wire. 

In the days that followed, we stayed in touch with Matt to monitor Ligaya’s recovery. Francesca shared X-rays with her medical network for second opinions. Slowly, it became clear there would be no lasting damage. Francesca’s wrist was broken, and Ligaya faced weeks on a liquid diet due to a facial facture, but both families’ travels could continue, albeit with adjustments.

Before leaving for Bangkok, we were invited to Matt and Ligaya’s resort for dinner. I felt anxious about facing them again, but my worries dissolved when they greeted me with warm hugs. When I whispered an apology to Legaya, she dismissed it, saying, “It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

Over dinner, we reflected on the incident. Despite the injuries and disruptions, we couldn’t help but feel grateful. It could have been so much worse. Instead, it became a sobering reminder of the thin line between adventure and disaster, a lesson in resilience and gratitude we’d carry forward.