Tuesday night around 7pm, Charlie took a very hard fall on our kitchen tile floor. He was amped because he had just waved hello to daddy in the front window and was running to greet him at the door, when he and our dog Jack crossed paths. Neither Dave nor I saw it actually happen...all we heard was a very loud THUD and nothing more. I ran from the sink to see what happened and found Charlie lying on the tile floor on his back...his legs and arms motionless and his eyes and mouth wide open like he was trying to scream, but had to get his breath first. I immediately held my arm over his body to keep him still, not sure of what kind of injuries I would find. I waited for the scream to come out, but instead, his eyes rolled back in his head, his face got pale white and he was out. I screamed for Dave (who was coming through the door...hearing the THUD himself). He ran and picked up Charlie's limp body in his arms and told me to call 911 and that Charlie wasn't breathing. I followed instructions, starting rambling on to the operator about the whole ordeal until she yelled, "MAM...I need your address first!" I followed instructions again, rambling out our very long street address, spelling it 3 times and the next thing I heard was Charlie screaming and crying...THANK GOD!!!
After I hung up the phone, I held Charlie on me and waited with Dave in the driveway for the rescue vehicles to arrive. Charlie, who LOVES firetrucks, especially with sirens and lights, didn't move to look at them...just laid his head on my shoulder. He softly whispered, "truck." The 5 or so large men surrounded us, asking questions, taking his vital signs and feeling for a bump on his head. The only problem was that we couldn't find a bump at all. The rescue crew told us that his vitals were good, but that we would need to wake him every hour or so to check him through the night.
We went back inside as the firetruck and ambulance played their lights and sirens for Charlie. Of course, I immediately called my sister, a Pediatric Nurse at Shands in Gainesville, and mother of a boy who constantly hit his head when he was little. She confirmed my feelings...Charlie needed to be thoroughly examined and have a cat-scan done to make sure he didn't have a serious head injury. We were concerned that the bump didn't come out.
We headed off to Wolfson's ER downtown in our van. After 8 hours in the ER, a lot of crying and screaming, an IV, sedation for Charlie and a cat-scan....Charlie was pronounced HEALTHY and we crawled into bed (yes, Charlie in between us) around 4:30am.
I can honestly say that we have never been so scared in our entire lives! The actual thought of losing Charlie is unbearable and this incident has left its mark on us. Charlie is back to being a normal boy now...running, jumping, climbing and scaring his mommy all day long. So, I guess we've earned another survival parenting badge...we just pray that it is the only one of its kind that we will ever earn.
PS- in this cell phone era, 911 does not automatically know your home address. Should you ever need to call 911, use your home phone or remember to tell them your address first.
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