John plays softball every spring and has done so for the last 10 years. You would think that of all the sports for a bunch of slightly older guys to play, this would be the most safe. You would be wrong. Every season someone from our team has ended up in the emergency room. This season has barely begun, only two Saturday tournaments, and already we have had two guys in the hospital.
Yesterday at the tournament Kelly and Paul, our short stop and left fielder respectively, were going for a ball and had a midair collision after running at full speed. Paul stood up almost immediately but Kelly was knocked out for about 3 minutes! This is when the team is glad to have a doctor around. John went out to check on Kelly and after a minute of no movement he yelled for someone to call 911. Paul was unsteady on his feet and mostly coherent but he had blood pouring down his face. Kelly still had not moved.
By the time the ambulances arrived, Kelly was up on his feet, his idea not John's, but had no idea where he was or what he was doing. I am pretty sure he didn't recognize anyone either. The EMTs examined him, strapped him to a board, got the full story from Paul and decided the trauma was severe enough that he needed to go to UPenn rather than the smaller local hospital. Kelly's family was not at the game so I fished his cell phone out of his bag and started calling his wife and mom - really anyone I could get a hold of.
The two ambulances drove off leaving the stunned team members behind. One took Paul to Delaware County where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion, leg contusion and a monsterous headache. Thank goodness his nose was not broken like we all feared! Kelly was shipped to UPenn, I rode along until his wife could show up, and thank goodness his CT scan came back negative for any serious damage. He had a bad concussion, stiches on his ear and over his lip and I am sure he will be sore enough that he will not want to move for the next few days.
All in all, things ended up much better than they could have (think Natasha Richardson hitting her head while skiing), but still softball should come with a warning: COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!
1 comment:
Oh my! I am so glad it turned out that both guys will be OK! Maybe the outfielders need helmets like the batters? Y'know, AJ got a concussion playing NPAA soccer when he was 4--the SAME thing happened: two kids running for the ball at the same time and looking at the BALL, not where they were going and BLAM! The other kid was fine and my kid ended up in the ER... Thankfully, nothing like this happens at piano lessons or recitals, but my boys like sports, too, so the danger comes with it.
ALSO, "older guys"? Seriously? There is NO WAY I would describe your husband as "older". Older than YOU, probably. Older than ME, probably not, but "older"? DEFINITELY not. I see "older guys" and I think 50+!!! ;)
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