For the first time in my life, I experienced the agony of heat exhaustion. I discovered how my body functioned - or rather dysfunctioned - when severely dehydrated. It happened deep in the Equatorial jungles of a foreign country far away from our home country of Singapore. The terrain was mountainous with thick vegetation. The rivers, our only source of water, flowed freely in the lush green valleys, but high up the mountains, water was scarce.
We were laden with fullpacks and other gear. My load was heavier than average. In addition to the heavy and bulky PRC-25 signal set, I was carrying the Ultimax 100. The Ultimax 100 was reputed to be the lightest machine gun in the world, but it was still heavier than the assault rifle I usually carried.
(Those carrying the signal sets normally carried assault rifles, not machine guns). We had been on the move for days. Today, we were moving towards a mountaintop. As the long journey wore on, we came across fewer and fewer rivers. The higher you go, the fewer rivers there are. Soon, we had drained our last drop of water in our bottles.
I was beginning to feel dehydrated. At first, I thought it was just normal thirst that affected everyone alike, but I became weaker and weaker. I cannot recall the exact moment the heat exhaustion occurred. I didn�t even know if it occurred at a particular moment or whether it was gradual.
But my body, particularly my limbs, became very weak and not merely because of the usual physical exertion. I felt like fainting. My eyes played tricks on me. The horizon began to move up and down like the wings of an aircraft turning right and left. My head was spinning wildly.
The officers were informed about my condition. The young Second Lieutenants responded by hurling insults at me, shouting harshly at me to carry on, and insinuating that I was faking it. However, a few platoon mates lightened my load by carrying my machine gun. This helped, but I still had my heavy fullpack with the signal set. Unlike the new Second Lieutenants, my platoon mates knew that I was not one to fake a condition or injury. (The new officers came from another company. They had recently completed Officer Cadet School and were assigned to our company as Platoon Commanders.) Till then, I had never quitted any exercise. I was fitter than average too, which was why I volunteered to carry the machine gun.
So I staggered on - my mind in a dazed. I tried hard not to faint. "Raymond's mind is affected," section leader Corporal Toh said. "He can�t see where he�s going." Only then did I realize that I had wandered from the trail to the thick woods. Corporal Toh ordered two section mates to pull me back to the trail.
I was fortunate to have Corporal Toh as my section leader for this exercise. He was tall and lean. He had fair skin which was rare among our trainers. A reasonable and compassionate man, he cared for his men and looked after their welfare. For example, in another exercise, a sergeant ordered our section to carry an excessive number of heavy radio batteries. When we scaled mountains, any extra weight was multiplied exponentially. Corporal Toh deemed the extra batteries unnecessary. Although outranked, he confronted the sergeant. After a heated debate, the sergeant backed down. My respect for Corporal Toh grew. He trained us hard, like the rest of the trainers, but no more than was necessary.
So on and on I staggered, my mind in a stupor. The journey never seemed to end. When will it end? I kept asking myself. At last Corporal Toh said, �Raymond, there�s water just ahead.� I can�t believe it. There's water! Did I hear correctly? Or was my mind playing tricks on me? I saw several dark green jerry cans (huge containers of water) lined up in a single neat row at a small clearing. Several thirsty men were already refilling their water bottles. We have reached the resting point! Though still in the unforgiving jungle, I felt I had reached Heaven. When I heard the platoon sergeant's order to rest for the night, I immediately crumbled to the ground.
A few minutes later, knowing I needed water, I forced my body up. My legs were too weak, so I used my arms to prop my body off the ground. I tottered to the jerry cans. Till this day, I can still vividly recall standing near the all-important jerry can. I eagerly filled my water bottles. Water never felt so good! I drank three or four liters, not only to replenish my thirst but also to prevent the same thing from happening the next day.
The exercise wasn�t over yet. The next day would bring more challenges, but I was happy to have made it through the heat exhaustion. I thanked God that it did not progress to a heat stroke which could have been fatal. God was so gracious. I had survived another day. Life is precious. Water is precious too.
P.S. - I was very fortunate not to suffer anything serious. My heart goes out to the following soldier paralyzed by heat exhaustion. Read his sad story. Scroll down to "incident 3." |
