Lucy's Broken Arm

Snaith Incident Report

Date: Sunday, August 29, 2010
Time: Approximately 1730 hours
Location of Occurrence: Front Yard at Lake Heights Circle
Incident Type: Right radial shaft fracture; angulation of right radius fracture present. Fracture shaft of right ulna. Angulation of fracture present.

Victim:
Lucy Snaith, Eager Sister

Perpetrator:

Liam Snaith, Daredevil Brother

Accomplice:
The Little Mermaid Big Wheel (aka TLMBW)

Narrative:

While Mommy was inside making dinner (our favorite macaroni and cheese), we were outside riding our big wheel. After putting the water on the stove to boil, Mommy went outside to see what we were up to. What she found was Liam riding the big wheel down the slope of our front yard -- something he often did quite skillfully.

Witnessing the fun, Lucy wanted to have a go. Mommy was a little leery because unlike Liam, Lucy hadn't done it before. But Mommy didn't want to discourage her sense of adventure and reckoned it would be ok if she was standing by to catch her. Ha! Well, before she knew it Lucy was rolling down the hill on TLMBW, hit a bump and fell over on her arm. She wasn't going very fast and really didn't fall very far (TLMBW is pretty close to the ground) but it was the way she landed on it. Mommy took one look at Lucy's arm and knew immediately that it was broken.

Lucy cried. Lucy cried pretty hard. Heck, she had a broken arm! But when Mommy asked her to try really hard to be brave, she stopped crying. And from that moment, Lucy didn't shed another tear - though she was entitled to many.

So Mommy loaded us up in the car and headed to the ER. You're probably wondering about the macaroni on the stove. Ya, we had to turn back to turn it off.

We got to the ER and Lucy was calm, cool and collected. The doctors and nurses (and Mommy) were astonished at how well she was taking it all in. Liam was mature well beyond his 3-years. He was just fascinated by everything around him. He too impressed the hospital staff.

After it was confirmed that Lucy's arm was broken, they called in the orthopaedist to re-set it. They had to sedate her. Really, would you want to be conscious while you were having a broken bone re-set? Mommy still remembers when they had to re-set her broken arm and that was 30 years ago! The doctors recommended Mommy and Liam leave the room during the process. They said most parents find it disturbing and traumatic to watch. Gulp. Up until this point Mommy was rolling with the process. Disturbing? What on earth were they going to do to her poor little girl? But, it had to be done. So they left the room for what seemed like eternity (30 minutes?). Mommy heard crying and briefly panicked. She looked in the window and saw what look like one of the nurses jumping on Lucy! It was good to have Liam there with all his 'a-why' questions to distract her.


Thankfully, they successfully re-set the bone (the alternative was surgery) and once Lucy came out of the anesthesia we were able to go home. We spent nearly 5 hours in the ER and were exhausted.

The Victim the morning after wanting 'mo medicine' [Children's Motrin]

Lucy was a little groggy in the morning so Mommy kept her home from school. But by Noon she was back to her normal self. She had to keep a splint on for 3 weeks and just last week she got a cast. A pink cast!

Victim with new pink. Very excited. Kept petting cast repeating, "pink, pink, pink..."

Victim with her orthopaedist, Dr. Sami Khan M.D. [who is absolutely fantastic]

Victim with nurses who removed splint and replaced with brand new pink cast.

Having a broken arm hasn't slowed Lucy down one bit. She learned how to adapt very quickly and has become quite proficient at using her left hand. And she loves the extra attention she gets out in public and at school.

Victim riding tricycle one day after incident. Obviously not afraid to get back on and ride.

Victim swinging one-armed at the park.

Victim with arm double-wrapped in grocery bags ready to take on the pool at Uncle Mike's.

Victim commiserating with Uncle Mike (recuperating from knee surgery) and Aunt Sherrie.

Victim with Perpetrator at Uncle Mike's pool.

Liam has become Lucy's official spokesman. When asked how she broke her arm, Liam always steps in to answer on her behalf: "She was going down the hill on her Little Mermaid big wheel." "She fell off and broke her arm." "She can't stop like me." Lucy seems to be ok with him answering for her.

Sentence:
All off-roading on the front lawn has been banned indefinitely.