Christmas Casualty

Saturday afternoon, my dear husband was working on hanging up the outside Christmas lights. This year, I talked him into hanging the lights along the front of our garage. Bad idea on my part, because as Steve was up on the ladder near the peak of the garage, the ladder slid out from underneath him. When the ladder hit the driveway, his face bounced off the ladder. In the meantime, I was in the bedroom and thought I heard a noise but didn't know what it was. When I came into the kitchen, Steve was already holding a bloody paper-towel over his eye. I quickly I had him lay down as I noticed his hands were trembling and he appeared to be in shock. My main concern was what was the best way to get him to the ER. Should I call 911 or could I drive him? Steve was communicating clearly and I checked out all the areas where he had pain (knee, leg, hand and face). He definitely had lacerations, but could walk on his own since he had made it into the house after stopping to take his Carhartts off in the garage. I had the girls come upstairs. I asked Abby to stay home because 1) she handles blood and injuries as badly as I do and 2) she could watch over supper which was already cooking in the oven. I then loaded up Steve and Kippy in the van and headed to the ER.
We spent nearly two hours in the ER and Steve got three stitches above his right eye and two stitches below as well as two stitches in his right shin. He had his right hand x-rayed and although extremely painful, the Dr. didn't think it was broken. His right knee is purple and he pretty much aches all over. All-in-all, he was very lucky and it could have been so much worse. For the record, I never passed out, although I did go white while he was getting stitched up and the nurse made me sit and drink some juice. Kippy, on the other hand, watched over everything that was done to her daddy and was a big hit with the Dr. and nurses. One nurse even let her help push Steve's gurney down to X-ray and back to the room!

I kept in contact with Abby as we went through the process and she had supper ready for us when we got home around 7:00 PM. Our main goal was to get food in Steve's stomach so he could take the pain meds as soon as possible.

I didn't take any pictures of the scene of the crime until Sunday afternoon. Notice the skid marks from the ladder on the side of the house. Steve said he had the string of lights in his hand, but they didn't slow down his fall at all.

The ladder exactly as it fell...
The lights didn't fair very well. There were quite a few shattered bulbs.
Our house will probably not have as many Christmas lights as others, but we are grateful that Steve is able to laugh and smile already about his experience!

This is the card Abby made for Steve. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern and offers of assistance!