Levi's Field Day at School

 Yesterday was Field Day/Water Day at Levi's school. It is a tradition to have a day of outdoor activities to celebrate the end of the school year, but seeing as how we live one notch above the equator and it is already hotter than hades here, the school opted for a day of water fun. Water slides, water games, hot dogs and treats. 

  Now, if you haven't noticed, my son is pigmentally challenged. I was worried he would get sunburned. I made sure and coated him up with SPF 50 water-proof epoxy-based sunscreen. Two coats in fact, from the crown of his head to this toes. Then I put him in long board shorts and a rash-guard shirt. He was set! 

  I thought I had it all covered. Water bottle in his bag - check. Sunscreen - check. Change of clothes - check.  Towel - check. Helmet - uhhh, what?? 

  An hour after I dropped him off the phone started ringing. I missed it the first time (darn potty break) but 2 minutes later when it rang I got it. It was the school. Levi had fallen and knocked the wind out of himself and seemed to be having some trouble breathing. We have been fighting his asthma for the last 10 days and even though he had his meds that morning i figured he must be having a flare up. I grabbed his inhaler and headed to the school.

  Luckily, the school is less than 5 minutes from our house. I was going to mow the lawn so I hadn't showered and was wearing 'yard' clothes (as in, no one but the weeds would be seeing me) no makeup, hair barely brushed, etc. I figured at the worst I would be bringing him home for a nebulizer treatment and some quiet time. 

  As I pulled up, two teachers came running out of the front door, followed by a woman carrying Levi. He was limp, pale, struggling to breathe and blue around the lips. He didn't respond to me at all when I grabbed him. We threw him into the car and one of the teachers jumped in with me and I drove for the walk-in clinic 3 blocks away. We pulled up, I grabbed levi and she parked my van. I ran in t he front door yelling HELP and the doctor came running. he pulled us into a room, they slapped oxygen on Levi, began taking vital signs and yelled to them to call 911. 

  The ambulance was there in no time, and soon they had him in a cervical collar, strapped to a board on loading him into the back. I rode right beside him (I took a picture with my cell phone but can't seem to figure out how to get it to the computer) He had his eyes open but no one was home. He couldn't answer any questions, he was just grunting with the effort to breathe in and out. I called Chris and he headed for the hospital, actually arriving only seconds after we did (I hate to even think how fast he must have driven). The doctor saw him within moments of us arriving, ordered a CT scan, x-rays, etc  etc. They cleared him to come off the board and collar within a short time. 

  About 2 hours after arriving at the school, Levi began to answer questions. First just yes or no, and then bit by bit more words and info. Here is what we found out.

  The class had been on the water slide and they had started jumping off the top. They were told to stop and then were leaving the water area. Levi somehow stayed behind, out of sight. He remembers being at the top of the slide and jumping, then landing hard on his back. Then nothing. They found him wandering on the playground looking dazed. When they talked to him he wasn't able to answer them so they took him to the office, changed him to dry clothes and started calling me. Things went downhill very fast. Between the first and second calls, only 5 minutes apart, he began having the breathing trouble. Then in the 5 minutes it took me to get there he turned blue, went limp and became un-responsive. I pulled up just as they were about to call 911, and the rest is history.

  So what happened? When he jumped off the slide, he missed the slide and landed hard on his back, causing his brain to slosh inside his skull with great force and give him a concussion. Then he apparently swallowed/inhaled water causing his lungs to seize up and his oxygen levels to drop. By the time we were at the clinic his body temp was 96 degrees and he was in shock.

  Once he started acting more alert, we got them to let us go home and I rested in bed with him the rest of the day. Today, he was a quieter version of his normal self. Amazing. The whole thing. Absolutely amazing. And scary. 

  Next year they are banning the water slide. Maybe a nice, small sprinkler......