Sport Injury.. kind of (go back »)

One end of the huge sports elastic band is wrapped around my toe

The other end is wrapped around my fingers

You can tell right from the start that there really is no great way for this to end.

But its one of those things in life that you don’t really think about until the answer hits you in the face.
It is after the pain clears that you begin to realise how stupid it was, you write it off as an experience and you move on.

Because the moment before the pain hits you is the worst. You can see its going to happen. There is no path out of this in time. But looking back you realise you actually had three options.

Option One: don’t do it in the first place. Obviously a less painful option but it wouldn’t have been painless, it would have been nothing. You would have never known what would have happened.

Option Two: duck. Move and avoid the main hit. While this would have lessened the impact it still would have got you. Maybe not in the eye and the situation may not have had the screaming climax it had but it still would have been a learning experience.

And Option Three: this is the option you could only possibly think of after the whole thing has finished. Let go. As I felt the elastic slipping off my toe I could have let go of my end. It may not have ended well for the person walking past, but would have been fairly non dramatic

Of course in the heat on the moment. Making a list of options wasn’t really high on my list.
As the elastic slipped off my toe it took me a second to realise the other end was in my hand which was currently located behind my head.

The knot of the elastic was about an inch from my face.
While duck would have been a great thought to have at that moment, it wasn’t what was going on in my head.

The only thing I could think of was something along the lines of
Oh shit
This is really gonna hurt

And it did.

And after the screaming and the whole drama with mum thinking I had taken my eyeball out and me not being able to tell I hadn’t.
I sat there with tears rolling down my cheeks, one hand holding the ice pack to my face and the other trying to stop my ribs from hurting from the laughter.

Because as much as it hurt. It was funny

Now with my black eye and my mother still having a nervous breakdown, it is still funny.

But there is a lesson learnt from it.

If you see one of those big elastic things that people use to stretch when they are injured lying around don’t pick it up

And don’t tie it to various parts of your body and see how strong you are

Because while the your hands and feet might be strong enough to stretch it that far,

Your eye, and the skin around it, isn’t strong

Lesson learnt?