FIG-Help Stranger
From Create Your Own Story
You finish tying the last few long strands of kelp around your feet and carefully make your way across the intertidal area to the other side. You hear a man's voice call for help again, weaker this time. You see him in the distance, struggling to sit up and move away from the incoming tide. You recognize the tattered blue rags he wears as the uniform of the sailors who were on your ship. In fact, his deep chocolate skin and scruffy black beard look quite familiar. As you draw closer, you see that the ragged remains of his navy blue shirt are sticking to the thick red stain that is spreading across his side. There is blood in his beard as well from a shallow gash barely visible through the hair on his chin.
You know instinctively that you can't just leave the man here on the beach. You bend down and help him up. He drapes an arm across your shoulders and leans against you. Staggering under his weight, you manage to get both of you to high ground at the edge of the tropical jungle.
You've never seen palm trees this tall or this close together before which tells you that you likely came from an urban area or an area with a much cooler climate. The sailor leans back against one of the palm trees with a groan and you examine his lacerated side.
"Coral reef," the sailor grunts in answer to your unspoken question. "Scraped up somethin' awful on the way in." He winces with the effort of speaking and closes his eyes as if in silent prayer.
What do you do? What can you do? You don't have any experience treating injuries like this. You don't have any poultices or bandages either. You're afraid to leave him alone in case his condition worsens, but you hope to find a village deeper in the jungle where help might be available and you fear he will only slow you down.
Do you:
