Part 1: The Event

WRITTEN 4/26/2018

I am a 68 years old, had been working started with part time work at age 16 in Canada for my dad. My dad had various businesses, restaurant, import, grocery, real estate, gift shops, ethnic banking etc. So as he threw me and my younger brother Charles around, we ended up learning a lot plus acquire hemorrhoids that we still cannot shake loose.

Over the years up to age 27, I’d attend MIT, Harvard and Cal Tech in USA. Have engineering degree from MIT 1971 and medical science doctorate degree from Harvard 1977.

Three daughters, all Harvard Alumni. Left Harvard in 1977 with an Afghan hound called Tanya in a metallic brown beat up Mustang GT (i.e. Was new in 1973 but blood bathed by Boston’s No Fault Auto Policy too many times), and only $80 in my pocket, the rest of the history are just good luck and hard work.

I had Tanya’s bloodline continued for 5 more generations with Canadian and us national champions. I don’t know whether I am more loyal to her or she is more loyal to me, I think both of us are to each other. I still have Albert’s sperm in a sperm bank. Albert is Tanya’s son, one of the best character dog I have in my life. Albert had flew on airplane over 100 times and win over 200 medals in USA and Canada. Never complained a word. Albert had bought tears to many dog loving ladies in his life. He died in my oldest daughter’s arm as I was on a business trip.

The family trusts owned various businesses worldwide for diversifications for many years, most are started from scratch to build up.

Family trusts are into general aviation, real estate and land development, hotel, shipyard, safari, theme park, etc over the long 40 years history.

So I can say I’ve live a very interesting life, endure many challenges or fiascos, celebrate many triumphs or wins, licked many wounds and bounce up again. Along the way, I’d live a life most men can only dream of, dangers that only a fool will invited.

Needless to say something have to happen to such a fairy tale. It is simply a matter of statistic.

In February 27th. 2013, I was invited by the tiger group of Hong Kong (owned by Americans and Canadians) which is one of the largest private commercial ship leaser in the far east to present a speech called “Prout’s approach to large fast ferries of the future” to a ferry convention in Singapore. The main theme was my trimaran research in the past 5 years led me to believe we are into something that are out of this world in terms of efficiency, function, ergonomic and especially safety. Both for commercial and military uses…the fact that either Indonesia or Philippine will have a ferry disaster every few months motivated me to look for something that can overcome them. I’d bought Prout, which is the world’s oldest catamaran brand from UK, and spent millions to learn and did research. Finally when the questions period come, I saw a sea of hands are up, I said to myself “oh shit!” Next thing I knew, I was lying on the stage floor.

When I woke up, it was nearly a week later. I was woke up by someone try to pass a tube into my stomach but obviously did not do a good job and woke me up from my 7 days coma. Immediately I found I cannot move my left side at all, but I struggle to move my right hand to help the poor guy to thread the tube into the right place.

Apparently I had a stroke, the Convention Center was only 10 to 15 minutes from the general hospital, (lucky me??), the representative from the tiger group got an ambulance and took me there in no time, with me allergic to certain medication while unconscienced, I also developed pneumonia, the coma last about 7 days. With me only sick for less than 5 times in the past 45 years prior to that, this indeed is a wakeup call. My belief that I am bullet proof went out the window immediately.

First sober night strange things started to come to me, I will be sleeping, I turn and felt there was are logs under the sheet, so I was blocked and cannot turn, I will swear at whoever dumb bells did put it there, when finally opened my eyes in the morning, I then realized the “logs” was actually my own paralysed limbs. I also notice the nurses are very nice to me, if I ring the bell, they will ran to me, my favourite is to say “I think I need to pee”, so they will help me…patiently….it’s like Colorado’s legalization of marijuana smoking just started. That is the only thing that made me realized I am not dead yet, as I was in such a depressed or more like confused state.

After I left the intensive care unit, I was moved first to a private room then to a ward with 3 other post stroke patients. In the ward I was getting less depressed as we all compared ages and notes, there was this young guy may be 30 years old, just got married, owned a café. His young wife will come, and honestly I felt bad for him. It was clear also that everyone in there felt rejected, mostly by their family and friends. There was this Indian guy that his son was a police officer in India sent him there after stabilized to seek extent treatment, so we will talk how a police officer can afford such a “treat” for his father. He was the only one not rejected. The café guy’s wife if came late he will think of all kinds of “may be’s” to drove himself crazy….etc. So the 4 of us we will talk across the room 24 hours a day to keep each other positive. Even if late into the night….Very strange, we all got each other’s name, none of us want any other’s phone number in case of contact afterwards.

Strange things from another world started to happen, the first day I woke up, I saw Clinton from Toronto. Clinton had worked for me for over 25 years. He came close to my face, took a good look at me and said he was sent by Andrea, (i.e. My wife of 33 years, although we were separated since 2008.) “I was sent by Andrea, she want me to tell you that now she is agree to a divorce, and she said please get one of these young Asian ladies to look after you from now on.” So I told Clinton, “Honestly it’s not fair to whoever is going to take care of me. But you can tell her I am in total agreement with respect to the divorce” Clinton ask me why aren’t I upset, I told him other than bad taste and bad timing that made me sick, why would I be upset when I know I am shit free from now on? Something that we tried for the last 10~15 years?

Then my 3 daughters, strange that none of them even called me while I was in the hospital. I saw Jacqueline’s shadow one day somewhere there with matt, and that’s about it. (i.e. as they lived in Singapore at the time, son-in-law matt is getting his MBA, matt is typical American, Harvard graduate, living in china for 4 years, still insisted to eat only western meal every meal). Jacqueline left Goldman and Matt left Merrill lynch from NY to come to Zhuhai, China. Jacqueline worked for just one day, picked a fight then left and come to work may be total 3 days in the last 4 years, so one can imagine what is she there for? The nurses asked me when will my family come see me, I’d no answer for them. Do I feel bad? Not really as I’d much more and bigger problems on hand……How to adjust to this new me??

Matt came a few times, basically he was the in between and we tried to wrap things up. But I am sure I looked horrible at the time to him. I am basically became a big giant luggage that lost its wheels in the b terminal when you need to go to a terminal to catch a flight. I think in some countries they call it “dead weight”.

I never have so much free time to think in my life, so I think day and night while I was lying on bed, a few days later, I really notice the brain is even more efficient than ever before. In 1996 my family trust lost a hotel called la belle creole (in St Martin) due to a hurricane in the Caribbean, the storm surge came and swallow the 25 acres 5 star Conrad hotel. So I am always tried to figure out a simplified formula for the force of a storm surge. Guess what, I solved that right in the hospital bed one night transiently. I tried to bring back a few memories that I am not too clear, wow, some of them now can came back to me with ease. In other words, my brain is now functioning in a different state. I do not have my computer at the time, so I cannot figure out what changes me, but it was very obvious.

I tried to test in 3 directions with my brain: computation, hard fact memorization, and differential possibilities. The brain was excel in all three of the categories. I was shocked. I lost half of my motor functions, but I gain in brain power in return, if these are permanent for good, what a deal I got!

(I am now a one finger typist because of my left side is not functioning, this text was typed in block letter and converted by Fiona)

——————END OF PART ONE—————-