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Show ll Cyclops Lighter Side By Bryan Gray; Business trip saga The press and television reports have made us aware of the dangers of international travel. Karl Maiden threatened us with pickpockets. ..and now Col. Gaddafi has made us scared of anybody with olive skin. I personally liked Arabs better when they rode camels instead of TWA. But a local man has discovered the potential perils of regional travel and figures that his odds would be better in Tripoli than in Denver, Colo. It began earlier this month when Wayne Merrill and his wife Cindy decided to attend a convention in Denver. "It was only our second trip together in eight years of marriage," said Cindy, "so we were really looking forward to it. A little rest, a little relaxation..." The Merrills were to leave on a Saturday night. But earlier that day, Wayne met an occupational hazard... while he was working at a stone company, a large slab of rock fell off a pile and smashed his toe. In pain but not wanting to cancel the trip, he returned home, drilled a hole in his toenail to relieve some of the pain and pressure and hobbled off to the airport. The next day Cindy attended the opening meetings of the convention while her sore-footed husband rested in the hotel lobby. But that evening, the second disaster happened. While slicing a piece of cheese in the Merrill's hotel room, Wayne's knife slipped, edging firmly in his hand. . .And then it was off to a Denver hospital where doctors fixed him up with four stitches-and, stitches-and, observing the open wound and the inflamed foot, injected him with a tetinus vaccine. Three hours later the Merrills returned to their hotel room ready for Disaster No. 3. Cindy opened a bureau drawer stuffed with four heavy telephone books-and the drawer slipped out landing on her husband's other foot., "The one foot was getting a bit better, and then that had to happen," she said. "Now he was unable to put pressure on either foot." The next morning found Wayne with two swollen feet. And by now the tetinus shot had begun to work its side miracles. His arm was also puffed out and sore due to the tetinus chemicals and on top of that the injection had made him sick to his stomach. sto-mach. In a short three days he had managed to injure two feet, one arm and his stomach lining, certainly enough to install a full-sized full-sized headache as well. "Wayne had a great medical record before the trip," said Cindy, the owner of a Davis County nail salon. "He was hardly ever sick, hardly ever went to a doctor. And then all of a sudden.'" One day later the Merrills limped to the Stapleton Airport. Wayne had enjoyed the "Vacation"... but his insurance company com-pany hadn't. Now the story has been told. Is Chevy Chase interested in a movie script? |