A Trip to the ER

My Story from the ER

Today's post is a story about a time I had to go to the ER and I think it may have been the only time I've ever had to go to the ER.

When I was in 5th grade, my family and I went over to my uncle's house for his (then) step-son's birthday party. There was an inflatable obstacle course, games, food, and the other typical birthday party happenings, including a piñata. After the piñata had been broken open and all the candy had been gathered from the ground, the birthday boy decided that it would be a great idea to pull the piñata down. The piñata had been nailed into the siding of the house and was hanging down from some twine. So, when the piñata was yanked down, it didn't just come off the string, the nail came down with it and went straight in to the gap between my forefinger and middle finger on my left hand. At first I honestly had no idea how to react and I just went inside to find my mom and told her casually that there was a nail in my finger. She looked confused and said "What?" and I just kind of lifted my hand up to show her my hand. I was still connected to the piñata at this point so my mom found some scissors and cut most of the twine off of the nail. We hurried to the car so we could get to the emergency room because the more I moved my hand, the more it feel like the nail could have gone into the bone. I remember having to drive over some railroad tracks and the bumps made my hand shake a lot and just cause some immense pain. When we got to the emergency room, we had to wait a pretty long time and by the time I got back into the room, I was in a lot of pain. The doctor came in and was discussing options with my mom and talking about whether or not I needed a tetanus shot. If you know me, you probably know that I am terrified of needles so the thought of having to get a tetanus shot was horrifying. I remember crying a lot and begging them not to give me a tetanus shot. They finally agreed not to give me a shot which was relieving. I was really nervous about having the nail removed so the doctor was just chatting with me about life. He asked how old I was, what grade I was in, and some other questions and after one of the questions he asked, I was in the middle of giving him my answer when he just yanked the nail out of my finger. I'm pretty sure I screamed or gasped and remember my mom having to leave the room because there was a lot of blood coming out of my finger. The nail had not broken my finger bone, but I had to wear a splint for several days. My step-cousin who had pulled the piñata down and caused the injury felt really bad about the whole situation and wrote me a letter of apology. I still have the splint, nail, and letter somewhere in a box. It was a freak accident and definitely not something I would want to experience again!

Needless to say, I don't play with piñatas any more and the nail in my finger definitely enhanced my fear of needles. Moral of the story? Don't stand near pre-teen boys with piñatas. ~Em