Poor Declan

Poor Declan witnessed an accident while working out at school today. It is funny how you just know when something has happened as a parent. I drove up to school today to pick up the kids and saw an ambulance by the locker room at the middle school. My first instinct was to go over there and see what was going on because Declan was in conditioning during the last period. Instead I parked in my usual parking space and took a minute to think- was I panicked, no not really- did I feel like something had happened to my child, kind-of but not in a panicked way- did I need to go get in the way of the what was going on to make myself feel better, no. So instead of heading over there I checked my home phone voicemail to make sure there were no messages, and then relaxed. A few minutes later I saw Declan walking out to my car and I knew something was wrong- #1 he was supposed to go to cross country right after school, #2 he had that look like he could not get to me quick enough. As he entered the car I asked what was wrong as I reached over to hug him. He wrapped up in my hug and cried as he told me his friend that had been in front of him while conditioning had been running this little step course and had missed a step and the piece of equipment (which is old and all of the padding has long since gone away) had an unprotected spike protruding from it which caught his leg and stabbed him, ripping his leg open near his shin exposing his tendons and muscles. Declan was right behind him getting ready to run it next and saw everything 1st hand. Luckily, a coach was nearby and quickly came to help. Some kids ran for other coaches, some ran for the nurse, but Declan stayed in the vicinity until the ambulance left with him. The boy went into shock immediately, and I think that was the worst part for Declan. He got upset again later as he told me about how his friend couldn't even cry because he was so out of it. He is concerned because someone mentioned that he could loose his leg, but I have reassured him that that risk is very minimal and not worth stressing over until more facts are found out. I told him not to make himself sick thinking about the pain because his friend was pretty drugged up by now. He told me that he had been close enough to hear them talking about giving him tetanus shots and getting him morphine. He also told me that he never knew muscle was purple before now. That is when I realized the poor kid had really seen too much. We talked about how gruesome and shocking it is at first, but how they can get the body put back together so well and so fast, just like in surgery, and make a person fell better very soon. I think when he realized how quickly the trauma turns into fixing, turns into healing process works, he felt better. It is just so hard to see something like that, and for it to be a friend. The girls were very sweet to him, and did a great job of talking to him and comforting him. Cambria told Declan how strong she thought he was to have had so many things happen to his friends (from injuries to deaths) and to still be fine. It was really sweet to listen to them all talk together. My concern is the safety of the kids on all of this old equipment. I know I can not get panicked and freaked out about it, accidents rarely happen, but if it had been properly padded would this have happened? I know Declan is a bit freaked out that it could have been him, but the chances of him falling on it the exact same way are slim. Last year a kid lost his finger when another kid was playing around and slammed the locker shut on it. The lockers were so dirty and rusty that they could not save the finger. At that point I had to not freak myself out about the lockers, but reminded Declan to always remember to be careful and smart in everything he does. The sad thing is that accidents will always happen. They happen because someone is generally not paying attention, but 100% attention all of the time is impossible, so they will continue to happen. I just hope my kids are learning how to be smart in avoiding them.