Thursday 27^th August 2020

I love animals. I think pet ownership is a responsibility. And this is why I don’t have any. I’m not responsible enough.

My theory is that you have a plant. If you don’t kill the plant, you’re allowed something like a goldfish or hamster. From there you can go to something like a cat, and then to a dog. And only then are you responsible enough to have a child. I can’t keep a plant alive.

So in petsitting while Craig’s in hospital, I feel an immense sense of responsibility. And it’s not just one pet. 4 cats, 1 dog and 3 fish. I would say that this is a baptism by fire, but that’s probably a bit too close to the truth.

I’ve been grateful for it though. I had a rough night. Every time I closed my eyes I could see Craig on fire, and as a result I think I got a couple of hours sleep at most. I’ve been feeling tired all day today.

Because of Covid, Craig is allowed only 1 visitor the entire time he is in. There was some debate but his mum wanted to go, so I got stuff together – clothes, toiletries, phone charger – and sent them off with her.

I’ve been sharing any updates I get with family, and he’s already got his support network set up for when he returns, He’s sent a few pictures, and to be honest, given how on fire he was, he’s looking remarkably good.

The nurses have said that quick thinking by Craig and myself ensured his injuries are minimal. I mean, he still has burns to over a third of his body, but he got the T-shirt off before it could melt to him. We put out his hair before it could all burn off. He never breathed in, so nothing internal is burnt. Correct split decisions means that this is a very, very different story to how it could have been.

I’m not the superstitious or religious type but someone was looking out for him. I don’t like the word miracle, but it’s incredibly lucky he’s in as good a condition as he is.

There’s a dark humour surrounding it as well. It might be the morphine but he’s laughing as we lament on how he managed not to burn his eyebrows off and give us some comedy.

He’s obviously in a lot of pain but I’ve tried to keep him calm by sending him pictures of the animals. I took the dog for a walk and it made him feel a little calmer knowing that they’re OK and being cared for.

It’s keeping me calm as well. I’m too busy worrying about them to worry about myself and whilst I’m checking in with people to make sure I don’t totally ignore myself, other than feeling tired, I’m feeling surprisingly OK.