I've mentioned previously that some of our dorm boys tend to exaggerate. The result of all the hyperbole is that my first response is usually, "Uh-huh. That's nice." Instead of, "Oh my goodness!"
So, when the boys came in from football practice last fall and said, "Eddie got struck by lightning!" I wasn't inclined to believe them. I figured that what they meant was, they saw some lightning very close to them, and maybe Eddie felt his hair rise on his neck. The actual truth was somewhere in the middle. You could tell just by looking at Eddie that he wasn't feeling quite right. My husband was home, for which I was very grateful, and he took Eddie to the ER as soon as we got the full story out of our semi-coherent teenagers.
The coach had already let the boys out of practice because of the storm coming. Eddie was getting into his pick-up truck, but when he touched the handle there was a big *crack* and he just fell to the ground and couldn't get back up. We decided that the lightning must've struck nearby, and then grounded through Eddie when he touched the truck. He couldn't move for a while, and the boys had carried him back to the Athletic Complex to the coaches. They, like typical men, stared at him for a while, asked him if he wanted to go to the hospital, and then sent him home when he said he didn't think he'd need medical care.
I called his parents as soon as my husband and Eddie and another player left for the ER (The nearest hospital is in a neighboring town.)and they were worried sick, of course, as any parent would be. His mom is an RN, so she was on the phone to the hospital directing them about what tests she wanted him to have, and asking them to read the charts that were coming out of the machines. After a lot of testing the doctors said he would be fine, just very sore. His enzymes showed that he'd had a "cardiac event" but that everything had gone back to normal already.
Eddie was sore for a few days, especially in his chest, but doesn't appear to have suffered anything else from the experience. Oh, except he's pretty jumpy during lightning storms and we all call him "Sparky" on occasion.
6 comments:
I could only imagine how scary that was for his parents! I don't think that I could ever send my kids away for school. I would die if something happened to them!
Atleast they have you and your hubby to take care of them...who could ask for more. You guys seem to be doing a great job!
are these college kids or a boarding school? sounds like its never boring...
at least you guys have a good sense of humor...."sparky". :)
LOL
I guess I'd be a tad jumpy during lightning storms too, if something like that happened to me.
Sparky! Thats great! haha!
I'm glad it all turned out alright, but that would have been scary, and I would have had some coaches behinds for that!
I'm glad he'll be OK. Lightning is scary stuff.
The lightning must have struck the truck, or struck nearby and jumped to the truck to have gone through him when he touched the truck. He has a great conversation starter for the rest of his life now.
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