A little trip to A&E

Oscar went to the skate park on Good Friday and just as I was about to go and get him my mobile rings and I can see it is one of his friends. Not overly concerned, as this friend often rings me about various things when Oscar has lost his phone or needs something, I answer casually.

"Jo you may want to come up to the skate park" he says with no sense of urgency,
"Why's that Josh" I say quite nonchalantly,
"Oh it's just that Oscar's bone is kind of sticking out the side of his finger"
"I'm on my way" I say very, very quickly

Luckily Ed happens to be at home in the garden. My command to get the dog in the house and get in the car is quickly complied with and it must be obvious from my tone of voice that this is not the time to ask why.

So on the way to the skate park we discuss the pros and cons of boys doing various activities like riding bikes, skateboarding, playing rugby versus sitting indoors doing nothing and we come to the conclusion that he's twelve and accidents happen and that's life.

We get to the leisure centre and there is a gaggle of his friends surrounding an ambulance. The boys were brilliant and had got his bag and his scooter, they took my instructions to call the friend who Oscar was supposed to go out with later and seemed genuinely worried about their friend.

Oscar meanwhile is in the ambulance sucking on gas and air. He's on a bit of an adrenaline high and seems totally unconcerned about his predicament, possibly even quite proud of himself. All the way to the hospital he was sucking on the gas, getting very cheeky and generally loving his experience and loving the gas. On arrival at the hospital I told him quite emphatically that I never wanted to arrive at A&E in the back of an ambulance again.

There then followed a long wait of about six hours whilst he was xrayed, had his finger put back in place, xrayed again, had it cleaned and then stitched. He loved the gas and air, I mean really loved it!

So what did he do ... turn away if you don't want the gruesome details. Well how he did this is still a mystery but he managed to fall off his scooter landing on his left hand and somehow managed to dislocate his ring finger forcing the top joint to break through his skin. The whole top of his finger was in completely the wrong place and there was this beautifully smooth white bone sticking out. The x ray was brilliant!

It could have been far worse and it does make you appreciate how kind people are, from the boys and adults at the skate park to the paramedics to the nurses to the very tired doctor who had been on duty all day and not had a break all day. Even on a bank holiday not one of the many people we came into contact with was anything but kind and caring. I just wish that tired looking doctor could have turned off his bleeper for five minutes and had a sit down with a cup of tea.

And how is Oscar? He's fine, a bit hacked off that there won't be any sport for a bit but he didn't break anything so it should all be back to normal quite quickly. He was back at the skate park the next day {not riding anything} and there isn't much point worrying about if he'll do it again because it was just a freaky accident. He was wearing a helmet when it happened and he'll continue to do so .... just in case.