Our First Major Injury

It finally happened...our first major injury. My 8 year old daughter was playing "Snake In The Grass" in between the buildings at church and she ran into a window. She cut the underside of her forearm in a couple of places - 16 stitches!

I was setting up the youth hall for our youth service last night and then Mrs. JimmyBob came running in and caught my attention. "Jennifer is hurt really bad" she said. I could tell by the look in her eyes that it was serious. So, I immediately ran outside where Jennifer was standing there with a man from our church squeezing her arm to stop the blood.

I saw the wounds. The main one (14 stitches) looked like a big circular notch had been taken out of her flesh. It reminded me of some shark bite pictures I saw (the 1 person who has opted for shark bite on my poll is CRAZY!). The other cut was long but not as deep. On the end of it there was a more opened up spot. That's why she needed 2 stitches there.

We wrapped a napkin around it and then some tape and applied pressure all the way to the hospital. In the confusion of the moment I went to get my wife's purse but grabbed one of my youth worker's purses intstead. Oops! They later came and swapped it. Man, it's good to have great friends.

I'll keep this story short, but I wanted to say that I am impressed with my Jenny. She really stayed calm (relatively) and she was so good when they gave her the shot and stitched her up. The 2-stitch wound was an option and she agreed to getting a second shot so he could stitch it. During each shot I layed across her body and put my face against her head and neck so I could help hold her down and speak to her. She didn't want to look.

I noticed that she uses the same self-calming device that I use. The whole time the doctor was stitching she was talking. I love this kid. Now I understand deeper those of you who have had children that were seriously injured. I felt terrible.

So, please pray that she heals fast...