How A Scary Incident Helped Me Become a Better Parent
Childhood injuries are inevitable, but they don’t have to ruin us
I’ll never forget my first look at the wound. A deep gash on our seven-year-old’s right leg. My first thought was that it went down to the bone. Blood started flowing out as we all scrambled to determine the next move. Our younger son began crying hysterically, so I immediately picked him up and turned away from the scene. My wife, meanwhile, consoled big brother and got him laying down on the ground with his leg elevated.
The injury happened on an escalator. We were all frantic and scared and asked the nearest airport employee to call for help. It felt like forever before someone arrived, but the paramedics eventually showed up and they were wonderful. After bandaging him up and reassuring us, they told us to go to the nearest urgent care. A few hours and a few stitches later, he was smiling and had started to feel much better.
The memory, of course, will last forever. The terror of the moment. The look of excruciating pain on my son’s face. The struggle of trying to keep our other son away and wanting to protect the injured one at the same time. You can’t prepare for this type of incident, but it served as a painful reminder that our lives are always an instant away from being derailed. The…
