Keeping Cool

Not such a mundane Sunday today. After church we were eating lunch when our neighbors almost beat our door down. When I opened the door I had teen girls in 7th grade and 10th grade shouting at me at the same time. I couldn't understand what they were saying and they kept pointing to their house. Finally, one girl shouts, "My sister's skin is split open and my parents aren't home!!!" I didn't know what she meant by that but I ran across the street with them. Their 10 year old sister was sitting on the floor holding a pad on her leg. She looked at me with panic in her eyes.

I amazingly kept calm. "It's okay, we're going to take care of you. Show me what happened." She lifted the pad and there was a gash that was opened three inches and at least an inch deep. It looked like someone had removed a large chunk of skin from her thigh. She wasn't bleeding which was strange to me since I could see tissue and it was so far opened. I tried to stay calm so she wouldn't freak out. "Yep, you really cut it. Keep it covered so no germs can get in it." I'm sure vomit could contain germs.

The story was she was chasing her brother, having fun, fell and hit the support post of the balustrade at the top of the stairs leading to the basement. There were no sharp corners and I couldn't figure out how she gouged her leg so badly.

Their parents were on their way back from out of town and their big brother (17) had a 911 dispatcher on the phone and I told them I would drive her to the hospital since it wasn't bleeding. Jared came over and had her lay down because she was pale and probably going into shock. He didn't look at the wound because he seriously can't handle human blood. They carried her to my van and the four kids came with me to the hospital.

I have to say "Anna" was very brave. She didn't cry and thanked me on the way for taking her. Their grandparents were about 1/2 hour away were going to meet me in the ER. There was great relief when we made it there and the doctors were able to see her right away. I left when their grandparents arrived because everything is better when your grandparents are around.

The reason her skin was split open is when she hit the post her thigh caught but her body kept going and it literally split open. She ended up with over 20 stitches inside and out. That will be my third visit to an emergency room since May last year. Anna has to miss the next two days of school to keep her leg elevated, then use crutches for the next three weeks. I'm glad it's all over with and that she will be fine.

If you have a strong stomach, you can scroll down for a look at the gash I kept my stomach intact for: