Airbnb told us we could earn $1,800 while we were on vacation. But who would want to stay in our home outside Toledo?
You never know. Cheryl Streitz rents out her Winlock home using Airbnb. And my first experience with the online hospitality service was at a place near Rosburg, Washington, of all places.
In March I joined three friends for a weekend writers’ retreat in a house outside of Rosburg overlooking the Columbia River. Divided four ways, the cost of renting the home for a weekend was $50 each. We brought food, cooked meals and spent hours rat-a-tatting on our keyboards.
So when we planned a trip to Finland to visit our son, who works for a computer science company subcontracting with the Finnish government in Helsinki, I logged onto Airbnb to see where we could stay. I checked out hotels too, but the apartments offered full kitchens in the city at more affordable prices.
After a brief stop in Iceland, we flew to Helsinki and met the Superhost who gave us the key to the fifth-floor apartment above a couple of bars in the Kallio district. The clean bright place offered a bed, couch, table, kitchen and bathroom. Everything we needed for a brief stay.
But nobody anticipated a half dozen first responders would crowd the apartment that Friday night when my husband suddenly collapsed.
He first mentioned indigestion and I reached over to give him a Tums. His body stiffened and he fell back onto the bed, eyes rolled up, completely unresponsive. I scrambled over the bed and cradled him, shaking his body, calling his name. My 17-year-old daughter called 112 (thank goodness Icelandair listed the emergency number on its screens before we landed). I pulled Larry onto the floor. He opened his eyes. Can you raise your arms? Can you smile? Are you in pain? My daughter relayed information from the dispatcher before rushing downstairs to open the door for the emergency responders.
Sirens blared. Two EMTs entered the room. They lifted Larry to the bed. He rolled over to his side and vomited. They laid him back and hooked him to a machine. He vomited again. Two paramedics arrived. I offered encouraging words. Prayed. My son raced from his apartment. Two more emergency personnel and a physician arrived.
“His heart’s not good,” one first responder told me.
They strapped him to a gurney and hauled him down five flights of stairs. I rode down in the elevator and climbed into the front seat of the ambulance, one of three emergency vehicles pulled onto the curb by the building. My son, his girlfriend, Katie Kenny of Tenino, and my daughter stood against the wall, watching and waiting. They followed in a taxi.
They pulled him out of the ambulance and I followed beside the gurney. My husband reached out a hand to reassure me. “It’s okay.”
No, it wasn’t. I thought he would die.
They admitted him to the cardiac care unit of Helsinki University Hospital, where his pulse fell once again to 25 beats per minute. After doctors used defibrillation to raise and stabilize his heartbeat, a cardiologist inserted a temporary pacemaker Saturday and a different team inserted a permanent pacemaker Monday. They moved him to a regular ward Tuesday, monitored him for infection, and finally released him Wednesday.
Everybody in the hospital exhibited friendliness, professionalism and care for my husband and us. Most spoke English, although many apologized for their poor English. Larry reassured them, “Your English is much better than my Finnish,” which was nonexistent.
We visited tourist sites the next day and spent a week with our daughter and our son and his girlfriend. We met their adorable dog, a 10-month-old husky named Yuki.
Before we left, we received the bill for five days in the hospital, two pacemaker procedures, tests, and an emergency room follow-up. Total: 18,473.40 Euros or about $21,150.
I imagine the cost in a U.S. hospital would be much higher. We’re hoping our medical and travel insurance covers most of the cost, but when it comes to saving my husband, it was well worth the money.
As for the Airbnbs, we enjoyed our stays in all four of them. Our experience was terrific, but that’s not always the case for the travelers or the hosts.
When we considered a visit to Bellingham for a birthday party, we booked a house on AirBnB, but the host had to cancel.
As in any case, Airbnb offers financial opportunities but also poses risks when opening your home to strangers.
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at chaptersoflife1999@gmail.com.
