The kindness of strangers: she gave me a pristine white handkerchief to mop up the blood on my face

I was visiting Naples with my daughter. Feeling exhausted after the flight, I tripped and fell face first

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Years ago I was visiting Naples with my daughter. On our first day there, she was itching to go for a walk down to the port, so we dropped our bags at the accommodation and set off to explore.

I was feeling quite exhausted after the flight, and while walking down a steep cobblestone street, I tripped. I flew through the air and fell flat on the ground, face first. For some reason, the instinct to put my hands out to cushion the fall hadn’t kicked in, so I landed straight on my chin. I knew immediately that my jaw was broken – I’d heard the awful crack. Before long, blood was gushing down my face.