It was on one of our day trips to a lumberjack show that we had the "bad" part of our summer. Brandon came with us to the Rogersville show on Canada Day and had an accident while doing the spring board chop event. He fell off his board and the axe that he had in his one hand came slicing through his upper right arm. It happened right in front of our eyes and it happened so fast. All I saw was blood arcing from his arm, I thought at that point that he had cut bone and all, but I found out once I was by his side that it hadn't. Between his father and a few others they had the bleeding under control and holding him in a sitting position and making him move his fingers. It took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. This was the first year they didn't have an ambulance on site. Hopefully the last. I drove with the ambulance to the Miramichi Hospital because they said it was the closest. On the way there the guy in the back with Brandon moved his arm and opened the cut and it started to bleed again. He yelled to the driver to pull over and get back with him, it was very scary to say the least. Moyal was behind us and had the side door of the ambulance opened so fast, he wanted to help but they didn't realize it was Brandon's father so they wouldn't let him. They got the bleeding back under control and we continued on. Lights and sirens blaring. I was shocked at the amount of people who don't pull over for an ambulance. The girl driving says it is like that all the time. I was disgusted.
So after we made it to the hospital one of the doctors in emergency came to talk to us in the waiting room and told us they would be airlifting Brandon to St. John to try to save his forearm. If I would have been standing, I would have passed out. I was in total shock. Vital and Antoinette were with us still at this point, because they had drove Moyal behind the ambulance. Antoinette being the religious person that she is, later told me that she instantly prayed for Brandon and his arm.
I wanted at this point to see Brandon, so they let me in where he was being closed in the gurney and ready for flight.
There was a second doctor in the room who started talking to us and seemed to be very positive about the outcome. This surprised me, so when he turned to leave the room I was on his heels. I asked him about the possibility of Brandon losing his arm and he looked very surprised that I would even ask. He said the previous doctor shouldn't have told us that and he didn't feel that was a possibility at all. The relief I felt right then and there cannot be expressed in words! Moyal and I both looked at one another with some hope that everything might be OK after that.
It was the longest drive ever, from Miramichi to St.John. We had to swing into Rogersville to pick up our van on the way, and Vital and Antoinette said they would be along after an hour or so to stay with us for the night. I can't thank them enough for that. Them and coffee...coffee really helped. By the time we got the hospital, I had spoke with dad on the phone who had already called Uncle Wilfred who lives close by to go over to be with Brandon so he wouldn't be alone. He was outside emerg when we pulled up and had already spent 20 or 30 minutes with Brandon. They were prepping him for surgery when we showed, so we got to see him which was so good.
They had a vascular surgeon who is the best in Atlantic Canada on call, thank God and he also needed a plastic surgeon. He went into surgery shortly after 10pm. The accident happened around 4pm, so it's been 6 hours with no blood running to his fingers, we knew they had to do something quickly. While he was in surgery Vital and Antoinette showed up to keep us company. Their son, Luc, lived nearby and was away on vacation and gave us his house to stay in for as long as we needed it. That was blessing because we were there for a week. We had hoped he could be moved the next day to Halifax or Bridgewater so we could go home, but he wasn't allowed to move until the artery closed.
The surgeons came to talk to us while we waited. First the vascular surgeon who took care of the artery. He said he was very pleased with what he was able to do and he was very hopeful that his arm would be functional after it healed. A little later the plastic surgeon came and told us that he had connected the large nerve and the bicep and lots of other things that were sliced. He said it would be at least a year before the nerve would heal enough to know the full extent of the damage. They both said it was such a clean cut from the axe being so sharp that it made it quite easy to find all the ends of everything that needed to be connected.
So here we were, with no change of clothes, because it was just a day trip, Rocky and Quinten at home alone. Brandon would be there for a week before they would discharge him. He really wanted Chantell with him as well, so between Annette and mom and dad, they got clothes for us and picked up Chantell and headed out for the 6 hour drive to St. John the next day. They arrived that evening in time to visit for a little before we all headed out to get some rest. Vital and Antoinette had gone back home in the morning and left us Luc's key so we could come and go as we please. We stopped and had dinner at an Irving that night on the way back to Luc's. It was the first thing we had eaten in a couple days. It was really hard to close my eyes for a long time, all I could see was the whole thing happening all over again. I still do sometimes.
He's a very lucky boy.
Again we had an out pour of help from so many people. Too many to name, all of the competitors in the New Brunswick Lumberjack Association, my family, and friends like Mike and Shelley and Bruce Inglis. They all did some amazing things for us all. Uncle Wilfred and Marie keeping us well fed and send care packages to hospital for Brandon and Chantell and Sue and Kim for doing the same. Shame it had to rain on our picnic! lol
So all in all, we are very blessed to still have Brandon with us and his arm. He is going to both Physical therapy and Occupational therapy where they are both very pleased with his progress thus far.
Soooooo........other than that it has been a good summer. Quinten and I went to loft 2 times this summer. I hadn't been down to stay overnight in 4 years. Wow. He and his friends fished from the wharf and dad took us out in the boat to fish, I read and relaxed. Both times we were down were amazingly relaxing and fun!
I have done very little scrapping this summer, as is most summers. But here are some of what I did in the past few months:
This was the card I made for the Ladies Birthday Card swap I hosted, I don't think I took a photo of the one for the Men's....hhmmmmm.....
This was for June SOTM club; a graduation gift card/cash holder.
I am working on some fun stuff for the fall. I am hoping to start re-doing the rooms in the house one by one. I'll try to do before and after shots to post. I want to start next week in the entry. I plan to go to Halifax in the morning to finish up school supplies for Quinten. I have crops and classes planned...a few projects are started, but not completed. I have 2 more months of SOTM club before we are done for this year as well. Oh, and I am going to join the Canadian CTMH Blog hop starting on the 15th of this month, I better get busy on the project! Lots to keep me busy. Right now I am making a huge roast chicken dinner and waiting for Brandon and Chantell to arrive to enjoy it with us.
Have a great Labor Day everyone!
Sue
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