Forgetting Safe Play, It’s Hard to Mend

July 10th, 2009


When the nice weather marks the coming of summer, many kids start to go out to play. There is street hockey, soccer, basketball, tennis, baseball, cycling, swimming, and hiking to keep us busy in the summer break. These activities are so exciting and fun that sometimes we forget the safety rules.

One sunny day in May, I went to the park just down the street with my brothers. We played in the playground, raced each other in the field and had a lot of fun. Until, my brother suggested a jumping competition where whoever jumps the farthest wins. The light pole cast a long, straight shadow onto the pavement. It seemed the like perfect place, with a line to mark where to start jumping. My brother jumped first but then moved away from where he landed. His first jump didn’t count so he had to jump a second time. This time, he made a great, long landing and stayed where he was, wow, that was challenging.

I got competitive so I ran and jumped with all my force. I ended up flat on the ground with blood gushing from my left palm, arm and leg. The cut on my leg was very deep, about a whole centimetre. While running back home, blood dripped all over my shirt and shoes. My daddy helped me disinfected and bandaged my wounds. We thought that it’ll be okay as long as we stopped the bleeding but it turned out, one month later the skin on my palm and arm were back to normal because the cuts were just on the surface layer. However, the cut on my leg healed into a hideous scar in a pink/red colour which sticks out like a small but long bump.

It was probably too late to visit the family doctor but we went anyways since my daddy blamed himself for not taking me to get stitches at first. However, my doctor said that it’s nothing to regret about, there’s 80% chance that the scar would be the same result no matter if I got stitches or not because it’s a keloid. Unfortunately no treatments or cosmetic surgery are 100% successful and in some cases may actually cause the scar to be worse.

I wasn’t on my bike, I wasn't on my rollerblades, I was on my two feet. Who would’ve guessed I could “kill” myself like that? I wasn’t being careful; I hadn’t noticed that the pavement when downhill beginning from where the shadow marked, in fact, I never thought of how unsafe it was to jump on pavement in the first place. My brother got lucky twice and didn't fall in his landing but no such luck for me, I fell hard downhill. But I’m still glad that the scar is just on my leg, if it’s on my face, it’ll surely be a mental disaster for a girl like me.

Another mistake, another experience, another lesson learned; playing outdoors is awesome fun but always remind yourself to stay conscious, safe and think before you act!