Cameron: The Handyman!

This smile is deceiving. The same kid was giving us crocodile tears and huge drops of blood everywhere just three hours before!

We were enjoying a relaxing morning together with our family company, after a fantastic breakfast at The Cottage Cafe, when the front door flew open and Cameron came flying in. He was yelling he was bleeding and blood was dropping in pools all over the floor. Panic was starting to set in and he didn't know where to go at first and so the blood trail circled the kitchen and entry in a couple of different directions before it ended at the sink.

It was coming fast between his fingers and making big splotches on the floor. Nathan swung into action, got him to the sink, and started applying pressure. All us girls had a mean game of Scrabble going on at the table, but after seeing the red fingers, I ran and got a clean towel. Grandma had Grandpa come in to survey the damage. After three verdicts of "That's going to need stitches!" I went to find Jeff. Cameron was starting to panic and sweat. Nathan kept applying pressure to his hand after he declared he saw the bone. Ugg!!! Apparently, target practice with new BB gun went awry. [Disclaimer: No BBs or guns were harmed or even used in the production of this event.] Cameron had been told specifically not to use glass bottles to shoot at. We had a few empty ones in the trash from his birthday festivities, just the day before, that mysteriously appeared outside. It seems he blew one up first and then decided to use the jagged edges to hold a cardboard box in place. In his efforts to mount the box, he fileted the finger down to the bone. Jeff and Grandpa took him right to the hospital, where more of what really happened was pieced together, as he was asked by every medical worker what happened.


The official diagnosis was: severe hand laceration with tendon exposure. The unofficial diagnosis: Betcha' he's not going to do that again! It was a close call. He had to have x-rays to see the extent of the damage. He's very lucky because any further down the finger and he would have needed surgery or had nerve damage. Nine stitches later and some pain killers...he was ready for a nap!


For his disobedience, his dad said that he was going to have to pay the hospital bill. He about jumped off the table at that thought. Parting with $75 cash has power to cause Cameron worse pain than a handful of stitches!

On a happier note, he saved me a trip to the pediatrician's office. He needed to get a tetanus booster shot for 6th grade anyway--and that was done at the hospital today. They also put him on an antibiotic and wrapped his hand good. He's out of useful hand commission for 10 days. He's already fretting about bathroom duty. [I say...serves him right. Lesson-learned!]

Yep. Twelve years, one day...and all Cameron has to say is: ''I was being stupid.'' He was going to start piano lessons next week. Now he'll have to wait a week or two. But he'll have a nice story to tell his teacher about how he mangled his hand.