Injuries In My Youth

I was talking with someone recently about diseases and things people have and what kids injuries as a youth that we’ve experienced. I was very fortunate to never have broken any bones that I know of, but had plenty of bumps, bruises, cuts, and things of this nature.

The minor ones were mostly due to working outside of course! Sometimes when I chopped wood for the wood stove, the axe would miss. It was a blessing I was quick to move because it always missed from the chopping open injuries and the handle would catch my leg. I had a few bruises from that or a piece of wood flying to hit or falling from a stack to catch my leg or foot.

I had to get stitches once from sharpening a hoe. I had it standing on its handle while I used a hand held sharpener to sharpen the metal end when my hand slipped and the hoe cut my thumb right open on my knuckle. Most of the time I’d just clean my injuries and cover them up, but this one was a doozy and kept bleeding. So, off to the Doctor’s office I went. I think I was about 16 or so and it took about 4 or 5 stitches to close it up,

I swallowed a marble when I was younger and was kind of choking. I can still remember that feeling of trying to catch my breath and thank The Lord for His plans to keep me around because it went on down. I was told it would come out the other end but never saw it!

Mom used to sew a lot and used all kinds of needle sizes. Sometimes we would try our hands out with smaller pieces of material but of course our inventions amounted to nothing! I guess one of us dropped one of the larger 3 inch needles that you could look straight on through the eye and my wrist found it in the brown carpet! That thing went in at least an inch and a half while stretching on the floor to watch tv. It bled for a bit and I think I had to get a tetanus shot with that and I remember that shot hurt worse than the needle!

I was not very handy in the kitchen when I was younger and definitely not too smart at times. If I remember correctly, I think I was making brownies at the time. I turned the oven on and when my sister came in she asked if I checked the oven for anything in it before turning it on. Nope, I sure didn’t! I opened the oven so fast to check and instinctively grabbed an iron skillet. My hand was bubbled up a good while after that and I can’t remember if the brownies ever got baked or not.

When I worked on the farm, we would use what we called cabbage knives to cut the heads off the plant. These knives were like thick-handled butcher knives if you will. There were a few times many of us would have our hands a little to close to the stem area you cut and your fingers would get sliced or cut a little. After the first times using the knives and learning the technique, you figured it out quickly to keep your hands further up onto the head of the cabbage. I was very fortunate to have had a couple of mild cuts only. I think there might have been another worker once who had to get stitches.

Back at the packing shed, there was a washing machine for the produce such as cucumbers, peppers, and smaller squashes. My job earlier in my teens before actually packing the produce in boxes was to watch for any rotten or deformed produce that could not be sold. I would stand and watch the produce as it went down the rollers or conveyor belts. At the end of these rollers or belts, the produce would go onto a packing table. One day when I missed a rotten cucumber I went to grab it before it hit the packing table and smashed my finger good between the last roll and the table. It split my finger open but not bad enough for stitches thankfully. Took a while to heal and quit hurting of course!

And finally to my worse injury. The road in front of our home growing up was graveled back then. We loved to ride bicycles and sometimes we would ride double people since we all did not have our own bikes. I was a passenger on one at the time we were riding and somehow got my foot caught between the spokes and it tore my inner left ankle to pieces! It ground the meat completely and you could see my bone. I’m still reminded of that as I look at the scar today or accidentally hit it due to the only skin on bone left. I am reminded how lucky and blessed I was to not have any serious issues growing up as far as injuries. I was sick a lot, but God kept me safe and that I am thankful for!