It was the last day of his internship. Benjamin had done fantastic, and they would transition him into a full-time job as soon as his college transcripts (including internship) and diploma were complete and he could arrange housing in the area.
But first - to celebrate! On the afternoon of that last day, all the interns came out to play a massive game of...PAINTBALL! Benjamin was excited! He got his paint gun, got in place, and geared up for the start.
It starts! Benjamin takes off!
And trips. Falling in such a way that some items in his cargo pants pockets jam into his leg, causing inscrutable pain. He can't get back up.
At first, they thought it might be an ankle sprain or a heat cramp. Whatever it was, he can't get up. The supervisor decides to call an ambulance and take him to the hospital. As it turns out, that may have been a lrg-saving decision.
The supervisor calls Alison. We are eating a delicious Greek lunch in Jacksonville after getting her Subaru serviced. She tells us what happened and that he has been sent to the hospital. We decided to go to Warner Robins. We are an hour and a half away from home and two and a half more hours after that to get to Warmer Robins.
When we get to the hospital in Warner Robins, we are told he's not there anymore. He's been sent to the Atrium Medical Center in Macon. When we get there, we are told we can't see him because he is in an "observation area" and can't see him until he gets an ER room.
This is incredibly frustrating. We are about to lose it, when we get a call from a good friend of Benjamin's friends, who is IN THE ER ROOM with Benjamin. We get that straightened out and get back to see him.
And that is when we see the picture above.
Benjamin has broken his femur. One of the toughest bones in the human body, and my son has managed to snap it in two.
While in the ER, they drill a hole just below the knee so they can use the contraption above to stretch his leg correctly in preparation for surgery in the morning. The surgery would place a metal rod bringing the femur back together.
At about 3 in the morning, they moved him into a room in the central part of the hospital to help prep him for surgery. All three of us get very little sleep.
The surgery, around 7:30 in the morning, was successful. Not that Momma and Daddy didn't have a stressful time waiting.
This picture was taken a day after surgery. He has managed to get in a chair. You can see the bandage around his knee. And he's wearing skidproof socks.
He recovered enough to take home late Monday, and we now have him recovering at home. On Tuesday, he started physical therapy with our good friend Audrey Jernigan, and he continues to improve. However, the whole process may take six to eight weeks.
Thankfully, his employer has placed him on injury leave, and a job will await him when he recovers. I am very grateful to them for this and their quick action when he was hurt.
One of the things I am glad Benjamin inherited from me was my sense of humor. Despite his pain, he continued to make jokes and help others laugh. In that spirit, here's a post-surgery picture of his foot.
As Bruse Banner would say - "You don't want to get me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry."
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