Leslie's Great Fall

Leslie fell from the branch straight above her and a little
bit to the left. She was picking flowers for her friends.

I don’t usually come running when I hear my children crying. I didn’t this time either. I heard crying and meandered my way down the long hall to my bedroom to peek out the window. Even seeing Leslie lying on the ground with her knees up under a tree wasn’t all that alarming until I asked what happened and one of her MK friends said, “She fell out of the tree from all the way up there!” I quickly yelled, “Don’t move Leslie!” grabbed my shoes and ran back down the hallway and to the side of my baby.

To give a little bit of history; just Wednesday, the pastor of one our friends here fell out of a tree and broke his back. It is likely that he will never walk again. So running to Leslie’s side you can imagine that my imagination was already going wild. There she was, lying on her back and not moving, but crying a good solid cry. Looking up, she had fallen a good 10 to 12 feet. I started touching her and asking if she felt her feet and her hands. She said she didn’t feel her hands and I started to pray and panic. Friends called the hospital, which is literally less than 100 yards from where we live and where she fell. After an assessment, the doc who arrived determined that her head and back were okay, but that since she couldn’t feel her hands at first, and she didn’t want to move them, that we would take her in for x-rays. We let her sit up, and from that point, I was able to regain my composure.

Once at the hospital, friends and colleagues took good care of her and found that she had broken her ulna and radius in both arms. She was put under for adjustments and casts and the rest is history. We are blessed to have so many good people on staff here who love their jobs and do them well. Leslie got her IV in her foot from Dr. Russ, her arm adjustment from Dr. Dave and Dr. Eric, and Dr. Calvin was her anesthesiologist. Living daily here, we don’t actually see these guys do their work, but after personally experiencing it, our fondness and respect for their ministries have grown. Our little adventurer could not have been in better hands, and unfortunately, I don’t think this will be the last time she will be paying them a visit.

I want to thank all of our Facebook friends who prayed and spread the news to the church prayer chains for Leslie. We are truly touched by your love and concern. You should know that Leslie is totally back to herself today. However, she has been forbidden from climbing any trees for a while, for life if I have anything to say about it. For the next six weeks our lives will be interesting. Swimming is out of the question, coloring and writing will be difficult with casts on both arms, bathing…, eating…, bathroom adventures… It’s going to be interesting.

I am so thankful that God chose to protect Leslie yesterday. I’m amazed as I look up at the distance that she fell that we still have a walking child. He is our gracious protector.