Trampoline (un)Safety

Trampoline (un)Safety: "

Each year tens of thousands of people (mostly children) are seen in emergency rooms for injuries they suffer as a result of trampoline accidents. This year, I’m one of them.

You see, the accident happened weeks ago while I was having a little fun with my daughter on a trampoline. It’s important that children are supervised on trampolines, and besides, I think they can be fun to bounce around on too.

We were having a grand time bouncing around, until I turned my ankle on a landing. I knew it was hurt pretty badly, and it showed all the signs of a serious sprain. I didn’t go to the doctor right away (mistake) because I was certain that I didn’t break a bone (wrong). The ankle seemed to be healing well, until suddenly it became very painful and swollen again. A sensible friend who is a nursing student shuffled me off to the emergency room for an x-ray.

So here I sit with my ankle elevated and in a splint. I have an avulsion fracture.

There are a few lessons I take away from this:

• Practice trampoline safety especially not having too many people on a trampoline.
  
• If you have a trampoline at home, you may want to consider changing your insurance in case someone hurts themselves on your trampoline and decides to sue you.
• I’ll never avoid a doctor visit when I have a serious ankle injury again.
• My mom is right – trampolines are dangerous!

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