I could hear faint shrieking. It sounded as if it were my name being yelled, but I couldn’t quite make out the words. Unexpectedly, my dog, Sadee’, bolted and I instantly knew that something was wrong. Sadee’ was never one to just run away from our daily walks with the new puppy. Sadee’ was a five years old and the best little mutt we had ever had. When she was just a pup she protected our herd of cows from a pack of wolves. So it was quite strange for her to take off, especially since chores had started out normal.
As usual I had come home from school to find a note on the counter that said “Honey, come to the barn when you get home. I need help. Thanks! Love, mom.” My normal reaction consisted of the preteen, “Ughhhhhhh.” I hated going down to the barn, especially on school nights. The barn was noisy with chickens c***-a-doodle-doing and of course our new puppy’s, Shania, whimpering. Since we had gotten Shania a couple weeks earlier, mom asked me to take her on daily walks to learn the boundaries of the farm. I had finished my daily chores and it was time to take the dogs on a walk, leaving mom alone in the barn.
On our walk I was completely absorbed in the puppy jumping through the snow piles and rolling and having a grand ‘ole time. Sadee’ was teaching her all the tricks of “mouse hunting”. I was getting too far from the barn to hear anything going on in the barn so the yelling was very hushed. Sadee’ knew something was wrong. Once she bolted off, I took after her. She made it to the barn before I did and was sitting next to mom who was sprawled on the walkway. Mom had tears in her eyes and a frightened look upon her face. I immediately knew something was wrong. All my mother could simply say was, “Put those dogs away and help me!” She also told me that she couldn’t walk. My first reaction, due to little First Aid, was to ask her, “911?” I didn’t know what else to do. Mom could barely walk on either of her ankles, but was for sure that the left one was broke.
I had no idea how we were going to get her to the hospital because I was the only one home and I for sure didn’t know how to drive. I was 11! I didn’t know how mom was going to drive us to the hospital either, but she was determined to do it herself. All I knew was I had to get her out of the barn and up to the house as quickly and least painfully as possible. There were three doors to get out of the barn, two of which went to the corral. I took her out the way with steps, luckily there were only two steps. My mom used me as her crutch and we hobbled through the milk house. As soon as we made it outside I knew I wasn’t going to be able to help her any further, I was too weak, so I ran to the shed to get the four-wheeler.
There isn’t anything as scary as a woman with a broken ankle on the back of a four-wheeler with a poor little girl driving it. Mom was in pain, and I was the only one who could help. I was determined to make this as painless as possible, but it was a little difficult with all the bumps in the snow. Finally, we had made it to the garage. I was in such a shock I didn’t know what to do! Mom yelled for me to help her into the van.
Finally, we were leaving for the hospital. Of course since mom’s right ankle wasn’t in any condition to drive, it was quite a while before we made it to Neillsville. When we did make it to the hospital, mom told me to go get her a wheelchair. There was NO way I was going into the hospital, asking for a wheelchair, and wheeling her into the hospital. That would be way too embarrassing. We argued back and forth on if I was going in to get it. Of course, mom won. I crept into the hospital, trying not to be seen, and retrieved the wheelchair. Then I quickly dashed back to my mom before anyone could ask me any questions. I helped mom into the wheelchair and we made our way into the hospital. She was immediately escorted away by the doctors. We later found out that mom broke three bones in her left ankle and severely sprained her right ankle.
On our way home my mother decided to finally tell me exactly how this chaos had occurred. She told me, “Earlier in the day, before you got home, I decided to clean out all the gutters in the barn. Shortly after you left with the dogs, I unintentionally tripped in the newly cleaned gutter, and landed wrong. I heard the snaps and cracks and instantly knew my ankle was broke. I laid there yelling for you, and luckily Sadee’ heard me. I have never felt like such a klutz in all my life.” I realized at that moment that I hope to never be as clumsy as my mom!