Monday, April 6, 2015

It Could Have Been Worse

Easter morning started out great.  My asparagus quiche and pastries were a big hit.


After a late breakfast, I started the dough for our dinner rolls and then took my cup of coffee to the couch to relax for a bit before putting the ham in the oven.  The kids were bored.  The rain had not yet arrived and they were itching to be outside.  Camille suggested taking a sledge hammer to the old shed over by the boys' pasture.  It has been falling apart and Brett, in particular, hates it.

Brett gave the kids some instructions on proper demolition procedure and then went off with his weed whacker.  Kyle, his girlfriend Ana, and Camille took turns smacking the shed.  I watched them from the couch, sipping my coffee.


It didn't take long for the them to knock off the wood on the sides.  The shed lurched, then swayed forward like a ballerina reaching for her toes, ending in a crumpled heap on the ground.  I thought "cool" -- until I noticed Ana running, Kyle crawling out, and no Camille.  I don't remember setting down my cup, or opening the side door, or running down the porch steps.  But I must have because I found myself running, with my heart in my throat, on the grass towards them wearing my slippers.  In the seconds it took me to reach them, Kyle and Ana had lifted the end that had, at one time, had the door just enough for Camille to crawl out.  She was lying on the grass and there was blood on her face, down her neck and her arm.  A lot of blood.

She was able to move her arms and legs for me.  The blood was coming from a huge gash above her eye.  Ana went running to get Brett (who was weed whacking with his back to us so he saw and heard nothing) while I knelt on the ground next to Camille.  I wrapped my arms around her and held her like that, crying with relief that she was alive and fear for her eye.

I drove Camille to the nearest ER while she held a wet, bloody washcloth against the wound.  She was fortunate, so fortunate.  There was no concussion, no internal injuries and no broken bones.  She had run far enough to be on the grass in front of the shed floor so was in a small space with protection.  A nail had slashed her face badly, but otherwise she was okay.  Her vision was, amazingly, still 20/20 in the eye.The wound was too complex for the ER to tackle.

We were sent to a trauma center an hour away and transferred into the care of an ENT specialist who was on call.  He walked into the room, a small unassuming man.  Camille and I looked at each other.  He told us he loved doing embroidery while he was in med school; he loved to stitch.  They prepped Camille, the doctor put on some magnifying goggles, and he got to work.  He lost count of how many stitches it took to put Camille's skin back together -- at 50 stitches.  She will have a scar, of course, but the top of  the flap he sewed back into place follows her eyebrow.  The bottom is in the crease of her eyelid.  We don't think it will be very noticeable.

And she is in one piece.  Amazingly, she is in one piece.  We turned back into our driveway at 9pm.  Kyle, Ana and Brett had made the Easter ham and potatoes -- and even salvaged my dough, making big asymmetrical rolls.  They sent me text questions during the day (between Camille updates) on where to find recipes.  They held the holiday together.

I expect we'll be talking about this Easter for a long time.  While Camille was being embroidered by the doctor, he said "Someday, little children will hear the story of how Grandma Camille, when she was only 20 years old, escaped serious injury when a hay shed collapsed on her."  I think he's right.

16 comments:

  1. My goodness, that's a bit much excitement for a family holiday! I'm so glad that she's OK with only a small scar to show for it. You are very fortunate!

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  2. I'm so glad your daughter is okay.

    That many stitches means the scar should be minimal (they do that on purpose for facial scars). When the stitches come out, have Camille use Vitamin E (we bought the gel pills and broke them open) and apply the Vitamin E to the scar. I had 50 stitches put in my chin and forehead, plus had road rash on the left side of my face that made my cheek look like hamburger. The Vitamin E helped reduce the scarring and you can't even tell now. (I had my horse fall with me cantering at the side of the road.) The vitamin E really helped reduce the scarring.

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  3. Wow! That was scary. I'm glad it turned out OK.

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  4. Oh my goodness what a scare! Poor Camille. I'm so glad she is ok and as you said, you'll be talking about this easter for a long long time.
    Well done to Kyle and Ana for taking over cooking duties so well.
    Wishing Camille a speedy recovery.
    Martine

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  5. Very scary - glad she's OK. One of my daughters had a similar injury in the same place and it's healed without a scar - just a very faint line if you know where to look.

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  6. oh that is scary. I"m glad that it all turned out okay and that Easter was saved.

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  7. Good grief! I'm so glad there was a happy ending to this story. You never know what is going to happen on the farm. And to end up with an Easter dinner is quite a bonus. Way to go Brett. Unforgettable....no kidding!

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  8. I don't know what it is about holiday's, but they seem to attract accidents. Glad she will be okay.

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  9. Oh my gosh! My first thoughts on the demo were how dangerous it looked. What a nightmare you experienced on what should have been a pleasnat day. Glad you held it together well and got her where she needed to be. Yes, you will be talking about it for many years.

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  10. Goosebumps just thinking how you felt running to the shed. So glad she's OK, she's so beautiful no scar will take away from that.

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  11. I'm so glad it wasn't worse!! Bad shed!

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  12. I got a bad feeling when I saw the title + sledgehammers swinging. Yikes!

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  13. Oh my - so close to her eye! That could have been much worse...
    I was in a car accident when I was 19-20 and my face met the windshield, sheering off my right eyebrow. There is so much blood supply there, that I'll bet she has little or no scar. I used very potent Vit. E oil once it had a scab. Amazing stuff!! So very happy your holiday ended well, and I'll bet that doc's right about the great story!!

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  14. I'm so glad your beautiful Camille is safe and sound! What an Easter adventure!

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  15. What an amazing story to have survived and be able to pass down to grandchildren. What an amazing, sewing/stitching/embroidering doctor! I'm so happy that turned out okay.

    Your food looks fantastic!!! You should share your recipes.

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  16. Oh my gosh! I came back to read after I saw Friday's post. I am so glad that she is okay.

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Thanks so much for commenting!