Accident

 This is a very difficult post to write. I had a boating accident yesterday and while I will be alright, it is painful to re-tell, so I will not go into great detail. Boats are full of dangerous equipment and you are physically man-handling all of it over the course of the journey. We docked (all 4 of us) in Steinhatchee and we ready to leave at 7:30 am for a night of anchoring out at Cedar Key. We were the 2nd boat and as we were pushing off and the current in the river was holding us on the dock  and the fender off the back of the boat got caught and was going to be lost. Even though I know better, I reached for the rope holding it to try to save it and the rope snapped like a cable hitting me in the left hand. The chaos that ensued is a blur, but I hollered for Tom to call 911 because I had lost my pinkie finger. 😯 The other boat returned and the ambulance was on it’s way, while my friends took care of me. They are both retired RN’s and one of the husbands had been a paramedic for 30 years. 

A wild ambulance ride to Gainesville ensued and it was a little over an hour long. The care I got was superb and I had outpatient surgery by a plastic surgeon in the hallway of the trauma ER. Welcome to Covid 2022 - they had 20 exam rooms and 80 cases admitted.  I have the lower 3rd of my pinkie, but broke my ring finger at the base, and am black and blue all over.  I have a splint and will see the dr next Tuesday for a follow-up and to make sure I don’t need surgery on the ring finger.

There were so many positives about what happened and I choose to focus on those. We were in a place where I could get immediate help, our friends were medical personnel and it could have been such a worse injury. My brother, Mark, lives in Orlando and Steve and Julie are down here for a winter get-away. They were both in the car on the way to help before I arrived at the hospital. Mark drove to Gainesville to drive us back to the boat to pack and collect animals before bringing us to Orlando where we will spend the next week. Steve and Julie met us at the boat to help us close it up and pack. Bob and Kim, on Benita, took Madison for the day and she had a ball going fishing with Bob. Bob also stayed today and helped move our boat to a different dock where the marina is letting us stay free of charge.  People truly are good!

The thoughts that haunt me are the ones where I know not to get near a taut line and let the fender go, but that’s why they are called accidents. This will be a blip on the radar down the road, but for now I’m very sore and very sad. I will update the blog when I visit the doctor again and would appreciate any and all prayers for a good recovery.