Well, I have been saying for a couple of days now that I would write you telling of what happened on Thursday night. It seems that this was such a freak accident, that an explanation is indeed necessary. I also wrote this from the heart. I did not prep anything. I started writing and left the words on the page as they came out. With that said....
On Thursday night, 02 September, me and my 3 girls, my wife Audra and my 2 daughters Lauren (7) and Megan (5), were coming back into our marina after a nice boat ride on Candlewood Lake. It was really quite perfect, we all had a good time, and there were no complaints. We normally take 2 cars, as I usually get to the marina first to uncover and prep the boat so the family doesn't have to wait around. When we leave for the night, we load Audra's car and my 3 gals head home first and I stay behind to clean and cover/button up the boat. This night was no different and I also wanted to double my lines in case Hurricane Earl passed through as predicted.
Audra and the girls drove away and went about my business. As I walked past the bow and made my way around to the starboard side of the boat I slipped and started to fall off the dock and into the water. Not wanting to fall, I leapt a bit to make it to the finger on the starboard side of the boat. I didn't quite leap far enough and I landed on my knees...onto the starboard-side bow dock cleat. For those of you that don't know what a dock cleat is, it's an aluminum device for securing a boat line to a dock.
In case you're wondering what a dock cleat is, this is what I impaled my knee with. I do nothing halfway.
My left knee landed on the forward "horn" and impaled my knee from the inside to the outside. I saw what had happened and knew I had to get my knee off the horn, so I pulled my knee off (more like ripped it off I found out later). The pain was pretty intense and I must have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing I remember was opening my eyes and trying to breathe - I was underwater on the floor of the marina. I also remember saying to myself as I saw the blood gushing from my knee underwater, "I'll just lay here and they'll find me later. There's no way I can get to the surface like this". I felt my right (good) foot press against something hard and firm, so I pushed off and I broke the surface and extended my arms and grabbed the dock. Between the boat, dock finger and the dock, there wasn't much surface area to come through.
I pulled myself up onto the dock and saw the wound. Trauma starts to describe it, but comes no where close to finishing it. I knew I had to stop the bleeding, so I removed my fave Yoo-Hoo shirt I was wearing and tried to make a tourniquet. It wouldn't work, so I stuffed part of the shirt into the wound and contemplated my options. The marina was empty...not a soul around on a Thursday night at 6:30. My mobile phone! Crap. It was in my pocket. I wanted to call Audra first in case something happened to me - I was cold, tired and felt like I might be going into shock. I called her and got voicemail. I pulled the phone away from my ear and started to dial 911 and it was like I was in a movie. As I dialed 9-1-1, the phone screen flickered a few times and then died. It just keeps getting better I thought.
Now it was time to start screaming. I thought about the movie Alive, where the people in the plane crash ate each other to stay alive, and when they had no other option but to walk from the wreckage, the went over the first hill near them, and there was a town there the entire time. I could see people on Candlewood Isle, but no one could hear me. I screamed over and over for "Help!" and "I'm bleeding to death!", but no one came. I really was terrified of dying there. I'm playing Survivor in broad daylight and no one but me knows it. Finally the guard at the entrance to Candlewood Isle returned from where he went to and strolled over and asked if I needed help. Good thing I couldn't reach him. I gave him a quick rundown of events and he thought I might have been "one of the neighborhood kids playing another joke". Thanks kids.
He called 911 and help was on the way. As that was happening, another family on their boat pulled in and the husband got off and kept his family away. He let me borrow his phone to call Audra. She wanted to come down right away, but I begged her not to, as the kids wouldn't do well with the scene. She agreed to meet me at the ER at Danbury Hospital later on and after she found someone to watch the kids. I don't think she knew how bad it really was, because when she got to the ER and the doctor uncovered my leg, she went white and started to cry. I spent the next several hours in the ER going through irrigations, saline injections to ensure I didn't rupture my knee joint, x-ray's, etc. All of it very painful. More painful was knowing that my little girls were home, knew their daddy was hurt badly, they couldn't be with him, and they cried themselves to sleep. They sent me home with some sort of pain medication that was either for show or they were mixed up with ice cream sprinkles. Maybe the pain was just too great. I took most of them in the first 3 hours and they had no effect. I spent most of the night/morning in bed after the ER just simply crying.
I saw the Ortho surgeon the next morning and got very strong antibiotics and some better pain meds with which Audra helped me monitor my intake. After he saw me for 10minutes, he called and had an OR prepped. Surgery was Friday afternoon and they opened the wound some more to take a look. They repaired some tendons and cleaned it out again with 6 liters of saline. I went from an 80% change of infection before the surgery to a 50% chance of infection after the surgery. If it does become infected, there will be another surgery. I go back for a follow up Wednesday, 08 September at PM to find out how I'm doing.
I can't express enough my gratitude for all the friends in my life who have shown their concern. Moreover, the friends in my life who just did without asking. They just showed up and helped without knowing what needed to be done. I'm amazed that my God has given us, and deemed me and my family worthy enough, to have such friends in our life today. I know what I can attribute that to, and I thank my God again that he has put that into my life.
It is what it is and I can sit here and feel sorry for myself, or I can accept what has happened and move on. I have heard some sit around and look at their bad luck and say, "Why me?" All I can say is, "Why not me?" What makes me so special that I should be exempt from bad luck or life's difficulties? I know that I have had my share of bad luck and life's difficulties in the last 4 1/2 years, but that's what life has given me. It can't be changed. It can't be altered. All that's left to do is accept, learn, help someone else along the way, and move on.
I'm not perfect by any stretch of the means. I have other problems, relationship problems with others and within my family, and I don't always handle every situation correctly. I do try though. And each time I try, I try to do better than the last time. I cannot control the actions, attitudes and behaviors of others, only those of myself. Whether they have done right or wrong is beyond my control. I see that today. After passing death by for a second time since 06 May 2006, all I am left with is prayer and hopes that these relationships will mend one day before it's too late. One day, it will be too late.
I know I am grateful for today - that's all I am guaranteed and no man is promised tomorrow. I can say with peace of mind and serenity that I will close my eyes and sleep tonight knowing that I have the love and trust of my family because of the way I am able to live today. And if it is to be, I will wake tomorrow, open my eyes, and say the same thing to myself that I have been saying for the last 1582 days. "God, thank you for blessing me with this day, I will not waste it, I will try and be useful to others, to live right, and to better do your will."
Shine On!
Ron
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