Dig Days: Lucky rabbit's hat (2) By Zahi Hawass The hat given to me by Ptti Rabbit has rescued me from death. It really did save my life. How was this? Well, the story began little over a month ago, two weeks before I travelled to the US for my eye surgery. I was excavating a site at Taposiris Magna 45km west of Alexandria to search for the tomb of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra. To spruce up the excavation work, I appointed an Egyptian team to work there in collaboration with Katherine Martinez from the University of the Dominican Republic. While we were digging there, cleaning an area near a wall, a huge stone weighing approximately 20kg suddenly fell on my head. I am grateful to God that the stone was only about 30cm higher than my head because it did not have to fall very far. After the stone fell, I felt that my head was about to crack open, but I said thank you to my hat because it had saved my life. I hope that people will now stop criticising me and my hat and realise that it has its uses. A few days after this incident I went to see an ophthalmic surgeon, as I realised I could not really see too well. At the doctor's clinic I learnt that I had a macular hole in my right eye. I went to several doctors, and they all had the same opinion. The eye doctors did not know the exact cause of this hole, but when I told them the story about the stone they suggested that it might have been caused by that. They called it the "curse of the Pharaohs". President Hosni Mubarak was kind enough to issue an order allowing me to travel to the best place for this type of surgery. So I went to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida, where William Smiddy is a specialist. I met him on 9 January. Ahmed Kamal, the medical councillor for the Egyptian Embassy, came with me. The medical examination proved the previous diagnosis. Smiddy assured me that the hole was in my eye before the stone fell on my head. However, it was the stone that pushed me to see the doctor. I am the type of person that goes to the doctor when the problem is obvious, but I never go for just a check-up. The operation was performed on 11 January. Following surgery, I had to remain looking down for 11 days, sleep on my stomach, and was not allowed to raise my head at all. When I went for a check-up, the doctor saw that the hole had not closed properly and that the surgery had not been successful. "I do not know why, but about 10 per cent of these operations fail," Smiddy said. "Yet sometimes people do not follow the rules but the surgery succeeds." He decided to repeat the operation three days later. This was the biggest surprise for me, but I insisted on doing it the same day. Smiddy did not see any reason why not and I had the operation again. Neither the doctor nor the surgeon charged me an additional fee. I had to go again through much pain for another eight days by keeping my head down. I even rented a recovery machine so I could lay my head on it and was thus able to see a few good movies. I did not know what would happen if the surgery was unsuccessful for the second time. The day of my appointment with the doctor finally arrived, and I was not able to sleep at all the night before. However, following the examination, I was told the operation had been successful and the hole in my eye had closed. I cannot explain my feeling at that moment, but it was one of the best moments in my life. Smiddy told me I could not fly until 5 February, but I could take a bus or train and travel anywhere I wanted. Two days later I boarded a train to Philadelphia to attend the opening of the King Tut exhibition at The Franklin Institute. The trip lasted 29 hours by train. The two weeks I spent in Miami were a good test for me. I was able to witness the love of many people, who continually asked how I was doing. Many people in Egypt prayed for me, and even people I did not know called me everyday. But the best surprise was the two phone calls from President Mubarak. It is also important to have this time for yourself. It was the first vacation that I ever took in my life, but there was also an amount of pain.
