Your Child Could Save Your Life

The last 48 hours I have been lying in bed. I wish I could say it’s been a luxurious desire fulfilled, but no; nothing of the kind. I am recuperating from a bad case of self- inflicted concussion achieved at the ungodly hour of 12.30am. Thinking I heard someone undesirable in our stairwell, I leapt out of my ridiculously high bed, tripped mid- air on my equally ridiculously long pyjama pants and fell head first into the marble floor of the bathroom. Did that hurt? Oh, yes. Was there someone in our stairwell? No.

Lying on the ground, I could feel myself blacking out but I mustered the capacity not to. I couldn’t. I was thinking of my daughter. She finally woke to my guttural groaning, a bloodied face, a split chin and me in a state of shock.

We have talked many times what she should do in case of a medical emergency. At the end of the day, it’s only the two of us living together and there is no other adult to rely on. Being away from home, it’s even more important. She has a list of people to call if needed.  But ultimately, she needs to know what to do. And she did.

As soon as she got me into a calmer state and had me lying down comfortably (and out of foetal position in which she found me), she looked up the hospital’s number on the internet. She rang and handed the phone to me. She still didn’t know how I ended up in this state. I managed to mumble to the nurse what I’d done and she insisted we see a doctor. Head injuries are serious.

I handed the phone back to my daughter who took down the number of a taxi, phoned them, told them the address (always let your kids know where they are staying, for obvious reasons), and somehow managed to get me down three flights of stairs.

Despite a five hour long wait in the emergency room, the nurse and doctor were fantastic, with an understanding to both my daughter and I. After X Rays, repair work, (my chin smells of super glue) tetanus injection and a lot of sympathy, I was told I had concussion and quite likely a cracked rib. BUT… when I think of what could have been, I consider myself very lucky. My daughter remembered all that she was taught to do in an emergency and that helped not only me, but her. And that marble floor had much more potency in it had I landed slighted differently. I could have ended with a nose like Rocky Balboa or a jaw like a villain out of a Bond film.

 So all things considered, my glass is still half full.  And my dream city will still be here when I am healed. It’s just a small blimp (or should I say, bump) in the scheme of things and all will work out just fine. After all, I’m a Mother Moving Forward (albeit a bit black and blue) and I’ve got a brilliant daughter!:)

To learn more about first aid courses for children go to: https://college.redcross.org.au/CourseLocation.aspx