So my knee gave out again… in the most public manner possible of course. I can’t really blame my bum left knee (which I heavily damaged via a karate tournament way back in July 2007) though, seeing as I’ve never even once taken it to be reviewed by medical experts in the 7 or so years that I’ve lived with the damage – never mind the fact that I’m anyway carrying far too much weight to ever allow it to heal properly!
It all went down this past Sunday, when we successfully hosted Jessica’s fourth birthday party at the always delightful Mondeor Restaurant in Somerset West. All the friends and family were present and accounted for, and given the surprisingly good weather we experienced, the kids were certainly making the most out of the kiddies splash pool.
Now the circular splash pool is ringed with an elevated wooden boardwalk, and therein lies the problem. The edge of the walking planks go well past the vertical boards holding them up, meaning that should too much weight be applied to the edge of the boardwalk you’ll probably find yourself in a spot of bother.
Which is exactly what happened to me.
I was carrying Emily in my arms (for pretty much the whole day) and had strolled over to the pool to ask Jessica something or other (I can’t quite remember what). She wanted out, and she needed a towel, so taking her hand with my free hand, I strode off the boardwalk whilst deep in conversation with her – in other words, not paying attention to what I was doing.
There was an extremely loud snap as the board on which I had just stepped snapped in two, sending me and the two kids tumbling down to the ground. Of course, as my foot hit the ground, my knee gave in completely, shooting pain up through my leg and forcing me to neatly deposit both Emily (which from all eyewitness accounts was a pretty impressive feat) and Jessica before continuing with my tumble that had me ended up face first in the dirt.
The kids were crying, fine though, but obviously shaken up, whilst I on the other hand not so much. I could immediately feel that my knee had conked in and that I had possible twisted my ankle, which made pulling myself back to my feet a much more painful mission that what I care to remember.
(Chantelle says that my face was completely drained of colour for the next while following the tumble, but nevertheless, I limped to a convenient chair and plonked myself down for the rest of the party – which was still thoroughly enjoyable anyway)
Obviously it could have been much worse in that Emily or Jessica could have gotten hurt, but thank the stars that wasn’t the case.
Party done and back at home at last (thanks to Ryan for driving my car and myself home!), it quickly became apparent that I must have put some serious hurt on, because I couldn’t bend my knee at all – meaning an early Sunday evening trip to the pharmacy for Chantelle to pick up some anti-inflammatory tablets and painkillers, whilst Evan, Natasha stayed on to look after Evalynne, Jessica, Emily (and me).
Needless to say, I didn’t drive into work on Monday.
Today we are three days down the line, and I’m happy to report that with each passing day my knee and ankle are doing better and better, and I foresee being back to full mobility just in time for this coming weekend.
Not that I’ll be climbing up any stairs, hills or mountains mind you.