My Accident

Yesterday
March 14, 2013

I practiced my parallel turns as I skied down the twisty slope. My thoughts were half on the slope and half on the thought that had been on my mind ever since I'd remembered it--I forgot the books. The books for book club. I couldn't help but think that we'd have to leave even earlier from the slopes to get home to grab the books before Book Club. Pay attention, I warned. You haven't been on this slope today. You've got to be careful. My eyes looked ahead to the snow that I'd be skiing on in just a few moments. I passed that and turned around the corner. I kept on going. I knew I was nearing the end of the slope--I remembered from the last time I'd been skiing here on the slopes.

Then something happened. I'm not even really sure as it is. The slopes were icy and slushy that day, some of the most dangerous snow to be skiing on. I'd been warned about it, but we were still doing it, anyway. I'm not a fast skier. I was sure I'd be alright. I've only been on a blue twice in my entire life. We've figured that somehow one of my skis must've gotten caught on the slush, while the other one kept on going. My knee twisted funny. It wasn't right. A sharp pain--7/8/9 on the 1-10 scale--shot through my knee. I fell, and kept on sliding down the steep slope. I tried to stop, and again it hurt. Somehow I stopped myself. And I realized that I'd hurt my knee, probably really badly.

I was pretty sure I'd seen somebody right before I fell. One person. That was all. And I needed help.

"Help!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face, partly from the pain that I'd experienced earlier and partly from fear. "Help! Help! Help! Help!"

I didn't stop until several people skied up. One of them had a red jacket on with a white cross on it. Good. I figured it was one of those doctor/first aid people. It turned out that it was. He asked me some questions--what had happened, where I hurt, what my name was--and then another first aid man came up with a litter on skis. They told me they were going to put my left leg--the one with the hurt knee--inside of a splint and then put me on the litter. I helped them as much as I could. They put the splint on my leg, lifted me on the litter, and then zipped up the canvas over me so that I wouldn't get snow all over me. I was strapped down and I couldn't see what happened after that, but I felt them zoom down the hill. They took me to a building, where they helped me off the litter and had me sit on a bed. They felt around my knee and asked me more questions. My mom came and we rode home.

That's what happened yesterday. It was so unreal. One moment, I was slowly skiing down the twisty green diamond towards the lift. The second moment, my knee hurts, I'm sliding, and then I'm yelling for help, fear in my voice. It felt like a movie or a book--something that wasn't actually happening to me--as I was lifted onto the litter, just like in the simulation that I did several years ago. It was so scary. I was crying half of the time just because I couldn't believe it all.

And now? I'm sitting with my leg propped up--made to go straight, even thought it hurts dully--with an ice pack on, waiting for a checkup from this doctor dude on Tuesday. I'm getting around with some crutches--we're kind of old buddies since I hurt my hip earlier last year--and I'm taking it easy. I'm kind of scared. I don't want surgery of some kind. I just don't know what's going to be happening.

I remembered thinking while they were taking me down the slope, "God, why did this happen?" And then I realized--"God, what are you wanting out of this?" I'm not sure yet, but I'm waiting for His answer. Please pray for me.