Laughing Hyena

About a week ago, I came across a patient who had met with a motorcycle accident and came frantically to the casualty, brought by his dad, with a rather ugly gash on his left heel.

It was not too dirty and was fresh so I thought we could take sutures and let it heal in peace. He agreed, and we went to the minor OT to get this done. He was a rather young fellow, must be in his twenties, so I thought a little pain won't be a hassle and went on to explain to him how I would give him some local anaesthesia and then take the stitches after which he could go home and rest for some days before coming to take the stitches out.

From the minute I took the syringe in my hand to the last knot on the dressing, this guy went on to laugh like a hyena or jackass or something that makes a funny funny sound while laughing, baring all his teeth, confusing the heck out of me as I didn't know whether his feet were ticklish or it was his way of dealing with the pain.
Well, I thought that it must be the pain and let it go.

This morning he came back to remove the stitches. No local injections required here. As soon as I started cleaning his wound before I could even get the instruments out for removal of the stitches, he started with his laughter again. I wish I had an audio clip to put up here but I don't so let me try and write it out the best I can. It sounded like Aahhaahhaaheeeheeehaa Aahhaahhaaheeeheeehhhaaayaaa repeated relentlessly.

By the time I went with the scissors and finished the job the minor OT was filled with laughing sisters, ward boys and me....Oh and the patient of course. Funny thing, he didn't seem to mind, just laughed it off (excuse the pun)