Playing hard has its consequences!

So, I realize this is a bit delayed in posting, but was just going through my camera and found the pics I meant to post and didn't get to it.

A few weeks ago, Brian, Dalton and I were sitting in the living room talking and Tanner comes bounding up the stairs with expediency (as one would if they hurt themselves), flings open the screen door and responds, "I think I broke something! No wait, I think I might be bleeding internally! No wait, I think I really hurt myself".

I did as any good mother would do...I responded, "Are you okay? (cause clearly the grimace on his face wasn't enough to tell me - duh?!) You might get an ice bag out of the freezer and can you keep it down, we're trying to talk here." :0)

Okay so seriously, I did get up and attend to Tanner. As mother/doctor, I assured him that he more than likely wasn't bleeding internally, that possibly he broke a rib and that FOR SURE he bruised something! He really was in quite a bit of pain, but then again Tanner has such a great pain tolerance he didn't really let on HOW much it truly was.

Noah at this point has made it into the house and explains to us that he KNEW Tanner was hurt because he just dropped the bike and left the scene of the accident without saying anything (apparently the 'not saying anything' part is a rarity).

After calming the immediate situation, I made sure Tanner knew that if the pain got too unbearable to wake me up and I'd take him into the ER. Morning arrived and we high-tailed to our Chiropractor (who could perform x-ray's) and sure enough, he broke (clean through - not a fracture or crack) 1 of his back ribs, damaged the one above it and tore the cartilage on the rib-cage in the front.  No activity for 4 weeks! WHAT?!??! you mean I can't go mountain biking?!?!?! UGH!!!

So...at this point, let me tell you how it happened!
Tanner was NOT mountain biking during this accident. He'd been out all morning riding, jumping and doing CRAZY stunts down the mountain. No, no, this was screwing around in our backyard on a BMX bike. Tanner tried to jump over a stack of 2 x 4's and the handle bars didn't cooperate, turning sideways and 'stabbing/spearing' him in the ribs. The impact was so great that the handle grips broke the back rib through the front. YIKES!!!
Okay, so now I fully understand how incredibly painful that was/is for Tanner.

Here we are at 2 weeks and the pain has subsided, but he still needs to be careful cause he'd be in jeopardy of puncturing something internally otherwise - that's how serious the brake was.\
Awww, boys and their sports!

Oh...the story doesn't end there! With Tanner, yes. Let me share a little bit about Dalton. About a week ago (yes a week after Tanner's accident), Dalton heads out in the afternoon to one of their favorite mountain biking spots to do some riding...alone! Not sure if that's his first mistake or not?! I get a call about 1/2 way through dinner from him saying he's crashed and cannot get up. He's hurt his back and had the wind knocked out of him. Now keep in mind, he's about 35 minutes from home in the woods. I ask him the one question that any mother would, "Are you okay?!" First, stupid question if he's calling me to tell me he crashed. What I was really asking was, "how badly are you hurt? Do you need me to come and help you? Should we call an ambulance?" Not being there presently with him I only had to go on, the information he gave me. I decided to instruct him, when he was ready, to see if he could get up and make it to the car. He said he'd call me back and let me know. I waited....and waited....and waited. Finally I called him and he told me he thought he could make it to the car.

Long story even longer... (okay not really) he made it to the car and drove home. Once arriving home we assessed the damage. Bleeding scrapes on his forearm and knee, and a huge abrasion down his back. please PLEASE, don't think badly of me here...after checking out his 'visible' wounds I made my initial diagnosis that he fell down and got scraped up and the "I can't get up" was clearly just the blow of the fall.

MY BAD!!!

He then proceeds to explain to me what happened. He'd been riding down this trail and came upon this jump, accidentally achieving a wheely OVER the jump. He thought that to be so cool that he tried to do it again, this time on purpose. He took off over the jump and this is where it all went wrong and he fell on his back/buttocks, etc.
Now, here's a little important information. Dalton rides with a backpack on that is filled with supplies (tools, water, snacks, etc.). When he landed he crushed the full metal water bottle that he had in his backpack AND completely popped the backpack like a balloon. In case you still are having trouble visualizing this...he landed so hard that he crushed this:

At this point I realized just how serious his crash was; that it was clearly possible that he hurt his back and that we probably should have him checked out. Good news, no broken bones and the kidney seemed to be fine and functioning normal. YEAH!
The next day I decided that the backpack needed to be thrown away as it was clearly un-usable with a split in the side of it. I thought it best to make sure all the stuff was out of it before throwing it into the garbage. I zipped open the outside pouch and about lost it.

Here's why:

 This is exactly how I found this pocket knife - opened and sticking up...ready to stab ~ FLESH of course!

Here's a better angle of just how opened this knife was.
Dalton...it clearly wasn't your time for a serious injury!

Funny too, cause on the way home this day from the eye doctor I asked Dalton if he knew enough not to get up if he crashed and landed on something? You never know, whether to get up or not could be the thing that makes or breaks whether you bleed out or not!

So...clearly the shock has worn off, the bruises are healing, the scabs are falling off and the desire to bike bigger and harder still prevails!  What can I say...I'm a mom to boys who like to play hard ~ and truth be told, I wouldn't have it any other way :0)