"Car" Accident

Late Sunday we went out for a family walk. Zack wanted Josh to pull him in Cody's old yellow pedal car. So Josh tied a rope to the front of the car and off we went. Shortly after our walk started Zack wanted Josh to run. But the problem is that the car has it's own steering wheel. While Josh was running, Zack turned the wheel and the car flipped.

Zack's leg got caught under the car when it flipped and his face dragged on the road. He also got a fat lip, and his mouth was slightly bleeding. Josh quickly picked up Zack to see if he was okay. Zack was obvioulsy crying, but aside from his facial injuries we couldn't see anything else wrong with him. Then we noticed, while on the side of the road still, that Zack didn't want to put his right leg on the ground. Everything seemed to be okay. He had a little red mark above his knee, so we thought he just landed on his knee and that's why he didn't want to put pressure on it.

Zack has never been hurt before. We honestly thought that he was more scared than anything and that that's why he was still crying so much. We headed back home. Zack cried the whole way, and when we got home we checked out his injuries again. He still didn't want to put weight on his leg. We asked him where it hurt and he didn't know. We bent his leg, moved his ankle, and wiggled his toes and none of that bothered him. Nothing was swollen and there were no bruises. So we washed him up and got him in bed, carrying him everywhere he needed to go.

Monday morning came and Zack still wouldn't put pressure on his leg. We looked again and there were some faint bruises around his ankle. Josh and i thought that maybe Zack had a minor sprain and decided to see how he did for the day and then we'd call the doctor if it didn't get better. Not long after that and Josh and i were cooking in the kitchen when we heard Zack screaming in the living room. Zack tried to get off the sofa and put weight on his leg. It took us about 5 minutes to get him calmed down again. Luckily for us, Max had a doctor appointment Tuesday morning for immunizations. So i called the office was able to get Zack scheduled with Max to have his leg looked at.

Tuesday morning came and i woke up clammy, and nauseated. I thought i could be Wonder Women and got Cody off to school, and Josh left for medic class/work for the day. Not long after he left i began vomiting. Still trying to get ready, i finally hit the floor about an hour later and had to call Josh and have him miss class for the day so he could come home and get Max and Zack out the door for their 10:00 am appointment.

Poor Josh dashed home, got both boys ready and out the door in 30 minutes. He got the joy of juggling 2 kids who couldn't walk into town. Max got shots and then Zack had to go get an x-ray. Around 11:00 am Josh called to tell me that Zack had a spiral fracture on his lower right tibia (the larger bone), and had an appointment to get casted at 1:00. They hurried home and Josh left Max with me as he made his 3rd trip into town for the casting. I felt terrible! Our little boy broke his leg 1 1/2 days prior and we didn't know it! He was hurting, miserable, and immobile - breaking down in tears at the wrong movements.

This was a very shameful parenting experience for me. I should have taken him in on Monday. It was the invisible pain i should have been worried about.

Zack got his leg casted from the bottom of his toes to his mid-thigh. Josh said he took the casting like a champion and giggled the whole time. He will be in his cast until May 30th. He was rewarded a rare treat of Burger King for his bravery, but it was really the Iron Man toy inside that made him happy. Zack is now monkey crawling around the house and has "blessed" us with his almost complete dependence. Bath times are special because he can't get his cast wet, and using the bathroom is a little interesting - but everything else has been fine.

The accident happened 4 days ago and Zack's leg still hurts, but he's doing very well. He's bored with TV and movies and is trying really hard to get mobile so he can play again and see what's going on in other rooms of the house. We are often told that it's a "Nice Sunny Day" and we need to play outside. So now we go for stroller walks and we read on the settee outside.

I feel so fortunate that his fracture was as good as it can come and that it won't take long for Zack to recover. A little Tylenol and the pain is minimized. But please learn from our mistake. If your kids can't tell you where it hurts, and you can't see any injury, just play it safe and take them in. It's better to be told it's nothing than to find out it's serious.