Saturday, January 17, 2009

I placed a ladder on the walk leading up to our house and set it against the palm tree in the center of this photo.  I reached up to take down a star that we had hung up in the tree when the ladder suddenly twisted around the tree and came down.  As I fell, I can remember seeing the faces of Doug and my girls and thinking, “This is it.  This is how someone dies.”  When I landed in the plant beds (in the second photo), I looked down and saw that my foot was literally resting back on the calf of my

 leg.  I grabbed it and kind of tossed it back into place and decided not to look at it again! Doug immediately ran over, cried out, and started calling 911.  As I lay there waiting for the sounds of sirens, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  Although I knew that my foot was going to be an issue, I realized that I was ALIVE! My body was strong. I didn’t feel pain in other parts of my body. I wasn’t paralyzed. I could talk to my family (even telling the girls to get their shoes on in time for the ambulance’s arrival).  I just needed to keep my cool and wait for help to come. 

As the emergency personnel began rolling in, I repeatedly heard the term “open bone fracture” being mentioned.  They spoke of the amount of dirt and debris on my wound and even poured water over it before bringing me into the ambulance.