A Fall

The birthday cake was ready! Most of the invitees have already turned up. The food arrived, running behind schedule. I was entering my apartment with the food when I witnessed the fall. My daughter was climbing up the chair from behind. The chair was empty and couldn’t even withstand a small girl climbing it’s back. The balance tilted and she fell down. The back of her head hit the steps when she touched the floor.

Many people rushed immediately to spot along with me. The surroundings were hazy and my eyes were focused on my daughter and ground zero. Lifting her up, we found blood on the floor where she was lying. There were spots of blood on her dress too. Somebody gently ran their hand against her head and the searching hand was covered in blood. My daughter was crying from shock and the pain.

The resultant panic was eased a bit when the doctor in the group stepped forward. The doctor is an ENT specialist, nonetheless a doctor. The doctor looked hard to find the origin blood parting the thick hair slowly and carefully. Soon, the doctor found the wound and informed me, “We will have to suture this”. The eyes and smile of the doctor indicated urgency on top of calmness and kindness.

We wrapped ice around a towel and put it on the wound. In a matter of seconds, the towel was colored red. Then, we went looking for an hospital. St John’s is the reliable hospital in the area. In order to avoid delays in the traffic, we opted for VIMS hospital.

After reaching the hospital, I rushed into the emergency room with my wife. We explained the situation to the male nurse on duty. He immediately directed us to a bed in the ER. By this time, My daughter got frightened again and started crying. She was silent till reaching the hospital.

The nurses rolled in a cart besides the bed. They started cleaning the wound by taking all the necessary items from the cart. After cleaning the wound, he was ready to shave hair from the affected area before putting on the stitches. Since my daughter was uneasy and crying, the nurses covered her in a bed sheet to restrict her movements. After this, they shaved a bit of hair to clear the wounded area.

Once the wound was cleaned, the nurses showed me the wound. The wound was deep and requires 4 stitches. We had placed my daughter on her belly and my wife was besides the bed with both their faces pressed to each other. The male nurse applied local anesthesia on both sides of the wound. He accomplished this by poking needle into at least four points around the wound. The crying and resistance became stronger with each poke. The local anesthesia proved unworthy for the subsequent suturing.

By the time it was over, the male nurse was drenched in sweat. He knotted 6 stitches on the wound! This was followed by a CT scan which revealed no other damages.

The stitches will come off in another 5 days and my daughter is  back in action.

Picture Courtesy: http://www.trafficsign.us

Tags: Musings,Wife,Daughter

Comments

  1. Ohh!! I am so sorry to hear about the fall. Six stitches is quite a deep cut. Poor thing shes so brave to go through the needles and the stitches. I am really glad that its superficial. Wish a quick and complete recovery!

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  2. oh..am so glad at the end it was okay with stiches...paavam..hope she gets to cheerful way soon and a tad careful next time..please buy her chocolates on my behalf..!

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  3. Phew! Glad to know she's doing ok! At least it turned into something she can laugh about later on in her life.

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  4. @Sujata - Thank you.

    @Mathew - Done. :)

    @Scribbler - Hope so! Right now, she worries about the bandage. She fears it will come off. May be she thinks if the bandage comes off, then the needles and pokes will be repeated!

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  5. hope she's fine now. It's really disturbing when something happens to kids.

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  6. I am so sorry this happened.Any injury to the kids can be more traumatic for the parents. And 6 stitches is not a small thing.
    Happy to know she is feeling better and there is no lasting damage.

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  7. @Aparna - She is okay now. The wound is healing well. Nothing to worry.

    @Mathew - :)

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  8. OK.. I fainted on the chair for 2 minutes. Shouldn't have read it.

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  9. oh, i am so sorry to hear this....glad that things are fine now. TC

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  10. @ZB - Not to worrt! Everything is okay now. We have also taken the stitches out. Thanks for your wishes.

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