Bike Accident While Camping

We are currently camping in San Diego County, at our favorite beach campground. We are with about forty friends and family.

Yesterday, my parents came down to visit for the day. My Dad took the day off from work and they packed their chairs, an ice chest, and set out to come see their kids and grandkids enjoying the great Pacific. Little did they know when they started out their day, how it would end.

We had just come up from being on the beach all afternoon. It was that time of the day when showers are taken, dinner is started, and campfires are built.

Hannah had decided to let Rachel go ahead of her for a shower. She got on her bike and went for a ride through the campground.

Minutes later, a friends son came running onto our site to get me. Telling me that Hannah had fallen off her bike. I went running...

About seven campsites down from ours, I found her laying in the middle of the street, her foot caught in her bike, her face bloody, multiple abrasions, and her crying. Saying how sorry she was that we'd have to spend money on her and that she'd ruined our vacation.

Thankfully some off duty firefighters and paramedics were camping in a site in front of where she'd fallen. They were able to begin assessing the situation - asking me to count her teeth, asking her a few questions, trying to free her foot that was trapped between the metal bar of her bike where the tire attaches and her wheel. They had to cut her foot free. They examined her helmet for dents, scratches, trauma.

So many people had gathered, our friends, our family, fellow campers, strangers. Eventually one of the off duty firefighters told everyone to go back to their campsite if they weren't medical professionals or the family.

Then sirens could be heard from PCH. I knew they were coming for Hannah.

A fire truck, followed by an ambulance, made their way down the narrow roadway of the campground. There were now uniformed medical professionals in addition to those who were there camping themselves.

First came the neck brace...

Then the backboard...

Then they taped her to the backboard. And lifted her to the gurney and then into the ambulance.

She had already started exhibiting signs of a concussion, but they weren't sure how serious of a head injury it was. It was 5:30 and smack dab in the middle of evening rush hour traffic. They debated taking her to the hospital just ten minutes away, or going the 25 minutes on the freeway to the local Children's Hospital. Because she was stable, they thought it best to make the trip to the trauma hospital.

It was a mad scramble to get my purse, our phones, Steven's wallet, clothes for Hannah (she was in her bathing suit), etc.

Our friends standing together, gathered together praying.

Steven went with Hannah, sitting in the front of the ambulance. I rode in my parents car, my Dad sticking to the back of the ambulance like glue through rush hour traffic. About 45 minutes later we were at the ER of San Diego Children's Hospital, a trauma hospital.

To make a long story short, a CT scan of the head was negative, foot xrays were negative for a break or fracture. A trauma blood panel was also drawn and it was negative.

Her diagnosis: a pretty bad concussion and a pretty badly sprained ankle.

There was discussion about possibly admitting her for observation. It took hours for her to come back around "to the here and now." She was on this constant loop every 5 minutes of asking the same things over again. "Did I loose teeth?" (her lip was swollen) "Am I gonna die?", "I'm sorry you're having to spend money on me" and then a new loop of things would come about 30-45 minutes later. It was really bad. Really, really bad.

I stepped out occassionally to update my parents in the waiting room. it was close to 10:00 when we discovered a McDonalds just around the corner from the ER waiting room. They'd been eating out of the vending machine for hours. LOL. After I returned from eating, which was only like 15 minutes, the difference in Hannah was like night and day. They'd hooked her up to some IV fluids as they thought maybe she was dehydrated from a day out in the sun, being sunburned, etc.

They did not keep her overnight. We were discharged shortly after midnight. She has her foot splinted and is on crutches. She has mutliple abrasions. But mostly surface.

We came back to the campground. And put her in our tent to sleep as we would need to check on her throughout the night. Rachel had already been taken to my brother's trailer and put to bed there.

At that point, it was well after 12:30am and my parents had an hour and a half drive home after an emotionally and stressful evening. Following behind an ambulance (although there were no sirens and lights for Hannah), as the result of a head injury was all too familiar for my parents. When my brother was 14 he fell off a skateboard (he was not wearing a helmet) and landed on his head, diagnosed with a basal skull fracture, and lost some hearing, smelling, and taste. Some in which he still has problems with to this day and he's 34. My parents safely arrived home around 2:30am. I made them call me when they got home. LOL.

We decided to continue our camping trip. One of her main concerns last night was the fact that she thought she'd ruined vacation and if we packed up and went home we'd only confirm that. She's doing amazingly well today. Taking it easy, sitting in the adults comfy recliner chairs, being waited on, playing games at the picnic table. We'd only be doing the same at home - sitting around, etc, so we thought we'd stay in the cool fresh air and continue our vacation. We are camping with a Registered Nurse, as well as a firefighter. So I had that comfort in the back of my head. Numerous people have come by our campsite to check on her, people stopping us in the street asking us about her, etc. The camp host came by and checked on her this morning as well. They are going to cart her around after dinner in their golf cart this evening and she's looking forward to that! After dinner we are also going to walk down to the campsite where the firefighters are and thank them and give them an update.

There's so many things we are thankful for today.

So many prayers answered.

So thankful we've always hounded our girls to wear helmets. It could have been a lot worse had she not been wearing it.....