Michael and I were working in the garden today. I was cutting posts for the fence (to keep our vicious guard dog out) and Michael was moving some spilled, hardend post-mix (concrete) into a wheel-barrow for me.
Neither one of us were wearing shoes. After sucessfully breaking up some pieces with a little, red shovel, Michael hit the middle toe on his left foot rather than the intended post-mix.
He handled it pretty well. Sure there was crying. Yes, there was blood. A lot of blood. But to top it all off, the toe was only filleted from the joint to the first knuckle. We’re probably lucky we didn’t loose the toe (or toes!).
Being an Eagle Scout, I can pretty much tell when a wound needs more than basic first-aid. This wasn’t even close. The laceration was rather deep, obviously dirty (rusty shovel and all), and wasn’t snapping back together. All those added up to one conclusion: Get to the hospital.
Our pediatrian’s on-call doctor took one look, and referred us right over to the ER (fearing tendon damage). After a couple hours, and five stitches later, we were allowed to go home.
Michael asked if I’d sleep with him that night, which I did, to “make sure his toe was okay through the night.”
Things we observed from this adventure:
- We were lucky.
- Michael’s a real trooper.
- Natalie can sure drive her red mini-can fast when she’s trying to get to the hospital.
- We’re all going to wear shoes when working in the yard.
