HIDDEN DANGER IN THE WINTERTIME

Wind Chill, Icy Sidewalks, and Wearing Mittens

Wind chills of fifty degrees below zero are relatively rare in Naperville.  I remember one such day in 1982, feeling safe and sound indoors.  Early one Saturday morning in December 2005, I wasn't so lucky.

My husband left for his post-retirement job at K-Mart, leaving me with his unruly, untrained puppy.  Headed to the backyard with him at seven in the morning, I was bundled up in several layers underneath my full-length down coat and a long scarf wrapped around a wool hat pulled past my ears.  From our ice-covered driveway, I stood with mittens inside my pockets when the puppy started running.  I had a fleeting glance at the leash headed in my direction and thought of jumping over it, but didn't have time.  The leash wrapped around my ankles and spun me like a child's top.  When I landed, I heard a loud crack like a tree limb breaking.  I realized my elbow was broke in half.  I started screaming for help, but neighbors were sleeping to the hum of their furnaces and didn't hear me.  I cradled my broken arm and reached the back door where I was confronted with the door knob.  I stuffed my arm inside my pocket for safekeeping so I could open the door.  I called 9-1-1.

Then the pain set in.  The nerve endings in my arm had been stretched so far that it felt like every bone in my hand was broken.  At the hospital I was given an IV with painkillers and a quick dose of anesthetics so they could reconnect the joint of my elbow.  The procedure was successful, but I was fortunate.  It doesn't always work.  I ended up with six months of intensive physical therapy and extremely painful sessions to break up the scar tissue, each time feeling like breaking my arm all over again.

I read on the internet that elbow dislocations are the most difficult injury to fix and/or heal.  I also read the biggest cause is from falling when your hands are inside your pockets.  Your elbow isn't able to pass on the pressure of the impact and is automatically forced apart.  

Tell your kids and the people you love.  No matter how cold it is outside, even if it is fifty degrees below zero, keep your hands out of your pockets - especially if it's icy and slippery.