$6 Well Spent

The Accident

We have almost reached the other side of calamity, so now seems like a good time to share our first story of walking alongside one of our children through an accident, physical pain, fear, and recovery. I say first, because I have been reminded over and over that this incident wont be the last, considering the energy levels and spirit of adventure both our boys possess.

Tuesday, October 30 Chase fell off a wooden dinning room chair in our kitchen (he was previously playing with water toys in the kitchen sink). To my complete disbelief, Chase had severed the top portion of his ring finger - it got stuck between parts of the chair and the floor. Oh, yes. There was a piece of my son's finger on the floor. JJ called 9-1-1 while I called a neighbor (on my knees, putting pressure on a finger that Chase so urgently wanted free). In minutes everyone was here: the fire department, the paramedics, and my two, wonderful neighbors.

I knew before all this went down that I am not one who can tolerate blood. But, from the very first moment when I was on the kitchen floor pressing laundry from a nearby laundry basket tightly around Chase' finger, I was going to be traumatized. Chase has been strong through all of this (the accident, the ER experience, two weeks in a cast, stitches in and out ...), stronger than I.

It has taken me a few weeks to get ready to publish a post about Chase' accident. But as we watch the top portion of his finger die and detach, and for the healthy flesh to re-define the structure of his finger, we are at peace.

The loss isn't much, and as one of my friends and I chuckled over, hopefully Chase will enjoy making up stories about his finger for his classmates, like an alligator attack or wrestling a lion.