You know the feeling. You set your foot down….and you know immediately that it’s not gonna hold. And you find yourself on the ground.
It was Wednesday night….I had just finished playing piano for the Holden Evening Prayer service at church. It had snow-squalled intermittently all day, and so I walked out of church, my arms full of music, coat, purse….and stepped off the curb.
I landed on my left knee and right wrist, left foot twisted under me and then flipped over and landed on my left elbow. Quite shaken, I tried to rise. And couldn’t. My wrist hurt too much to put any weight on. My knee and left foot didn’t want to work too well, and my left elbow was rapidly swelling.
We had a nasty cold spell a month ago, and a local man had been found during it: he had gone outside, fallen, broken his ankle and frozen to death because no one heard him yell for help….
I thought of him as I lay there on the asphalt. “Surely someone will leave the church building soon and come help me get up…..”…..I thought. No one came.
You may have read my earlier blog about my tendency to faint when I am under physical and emotional stress. I didn’t. But I came close.
Still no one came out of the church. I took off my shoes (thinking it would give me more traction) and willed myself to my knees. Though my left elbow was badly swollen, my left hand and wrist were fine, so I balanced all my (considerable) weight there, and pushed myself to my feet.
It was immediately clear that my left great toe was broken. I gathered the scattered music, coat and purse and crept to my car, fifty feet away. Behind me, I heard someone finally come out of the church, but I knew if I stopped to talk, I would probably collapse again. Safe inside, I lowered the backrest and lay there for a moment, breathing deeply to prevent the impending syncope.
My wrist is not broken, just badly sprained, and feels better due to the brace I am wearing on it. My great toe IS broken, and is safely buddy taped to its neighbor. My elbow is just….deranged: a blobby hematoma overlays the joint, and hurts any time I set my arm down. My knee is skinned and hurts where my jeans rub against it.
My pride? Recovering nicely, thanks.
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