Around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, I was walking towards the house and Caleb was at the door, motioning for me to hurry. "Sarah's been hurt!"
I found our six-year-old crying and moaning in Melissa's arms. The story was pieced together from several eye witnesses: Sarah and a couple of the Bundy kids were climbing a tree. Sarah was swinging from a branch when it snapped. She fell flat on her back and had the wind knocked out of her.
I got an ice pack on her back and then ran to see the tree in order to judge how far she had dropped and whether or not she hit any branches on the way down. It wasn't a very big tree and she couldn't have dropped more than four or five feet. BUT, Caleb once rolled off a couch onto a carpeted floor and broke his arm, so...
We got Sarah settled onto our bed and she moaned and fussed every time she was jostled. She could wiggle her toes and all, but couldn't lift her legs or her head without pain and tears. We began to worry about a fracture in her spine or possibly a rib.
I ran down to the medical clinic (which is only two or three minutes from our house) and found Dr. Rodney. Thankfully, he was available and willing to come back with me to the house. By the time we arrived, a crowd was starting to gather: local kids were peaking in the window, Elida Walton (missionary who works with the medical clinic) was on her phone, and Angie Bundy came in to pray over Sarah.
All the while, Sarah remained way too still and acted sleepy.
Dr. Rodney was concerned enough to suggest we find a board to carry Sarah down to the clinic for an X-ray. He gave her a shot to ease the pain. Sarah's panicked cries of "no, no, NO!" over the shot were gut-wrenching.
We transferred Sarah from the bed to a board that Brett Bundy found in the shop, then out the door to a vehicle. I held the board level in the back seat while Melissa walked alongside to steady the plank and to keep the door from slamming into it. I had one hand free to take pictures. ;-)
Brett and Dr. Rodney carried Sarah from the vehicle into the clinic...
And got her situated on the X-ray table.
The X-ray was taken and developed and read within five minutes and showed no fractures or any other abnormalities. Try to get that speed of service in the States!
By that time, the pain medication had taken effect and Sarah was able to sit up without too much discomfort. Dr. Rodney let out a "Hallelujah!" and prescribed couch time in front of a Barbie movie and an early bedtime.
We thank the Lord for watching over our little one! I didn't find out until this morning, but apparently one of the calls Elida made was to her father, who works at OMS headquarters in Indiana. He put the news out on the prayer line, which meant it went worldwide. Literally.
I suspect this post will un-nerve the Grandmas a bit, but this incident reminds me of a couple of things:
1) Sarah climbs trees. It's in her DNA. - This could have happened anywhere.
2) It would have taken much longer to reach a doctor where we were living in Indiana. And getting one to make a house call? Yeah right.
3) This is the kind of community that rushes in to help in someone's time of need.
4) We are surrounded by prayer here.
5) God hears our prayers and He is so good and so trustworthy!
"Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress, be merciful to me and hear my prayer." Psalm 4:1
Sarah popped out of bed quite chipper this morning and was out the door by 7:00, looking for her friends. I snapped the picture below as she walked away because I was thinking how grateful I was to see her healthy and happy and how often I take that for granted.
Thank you, Lord, for watching over our (Your) little ones.
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