The Petting Zoo Injury
My parents live 130 miles north of me and my family. Before they went on vacation, they drove down to drop off their dog so that we could give her the love and care she deserves in their absence. When they returned, I offered to meet them halfway because who wants to spend 4 1/2 hours in the car after a vacation? No one. Mr. Transportation was working, which meant Pumpkin had to make the drive with me. To add a bit of fun to the 2+ hour trip, I decided we’d make a stop at a roadside gas station that advertises a pirate ship and indoor playground.
Unbeknownst to me, they also had a petting zoo! Yes, folks, a roadside petting zoo. When we pulled in and saw the signage, we made a beeline for it. It had some donkeys, some goats, some longhorn cattle, and some ponies. The animals looked healthy except for one emaciated pony that tugged at my animal-loving heart. We took a beat to explore the rest of the truck stop (alas, the indoor playground/pirate ship would have been more fun for Pumpkin if she had siblings), and then I bought $20-worth of feed for the animals.
That actually bought a lot of feed. Pumpkin and I spent the next 40 minutes sharing the food with all of the animals, but especially the emaciated pony, who let us know he was hungry by kicking at his fence every time we walked away. I went through all of my feed. Pumpkin was just approaching another pony when I looked at my watch and received a shock. Where had the time gone? I had a lunch with friends to get to! I told Pumpkin, “Ok, love-bug, we’re out of time. I need you to just pour the rest of the feed in one of the stalls. We’ve gotta go!” She just stared at me. I wasn’t sure if she was resistant to the idea of leaving or if she didn’t understand what I was suggesting, so I went to demonstrate. I reached my hand into the pony’s stall and made a motion like I was pouring a cup of feed, and while I did this, I took my eyes off of the pony to make sure my daughter was watching me.
The pony, watching us standing there and jabbering instead of feeding him, grew impatient and tossed his head with a huff. His skull caught my outstretched arm and crushed my wrist against the metal beam of the fence. (It’s here I’ll note with a sense of irony that right next to where I thrust my arm through the fence was a sign stating “DO NOT STICK HANDS OR FINGERS INTO THE STALL.”) Every other sense was completely blotted out by the explosion of pain radiating from my wrist. My daughter stood transfixed while I whimpered and danced around cradling my damaged wrist. By this point the pony had stuck his head out through the fence beams. He gave his head another toss of frustration, his teeth catching my daughter’s forehead. The impact probably did hurt (she cried out), but she was neither bruised nor cut. We retreated hastily out of Old Meanie’s reach, and I suggested Pumpkin dump the rest of the feed for the emaciated pony. She did so with caution, while that pony was at the other end of the stall!
My wrist had a long scratch on it going from the base of the thumb across to the posterior forearm. I immediately applied an antiseptic. On the drive home I kept testing the tenderness and mobility of the wrist. It was sore, but I seemed to have full mobility, so I was hoping it was only bruised. Over the next hour or two, the pain continued to diminish. However, later that evening, despite icing the wrist, my pain levels started to increase. A final extension test before bed nearly caused me to pass out, and I was feeling some numbness in the hand. I was very concerned about serious/long-term damage (safety) and in a lot of pain (physiological). I went to sleep resolving to go to Urgent Care the next morning. However, that thought did nothing to nurse my ego (esteem)! Who gets injured at a freaking petting zoo!?
The PA at the clinic ruled out a breakage with an x-ray, and my wrist had mostly recovered within a few days. When I told a nurse friend the story, without even seeing my wrist she guessed that the point of impact was near the thumb. She said, “That’s a sensitive area!” To which I responded, “I know that now!”
I can laugh about the experience now, but it’s still important to learn from such events (growth!). So, as I asked Pumpkin, what did we learn from that experience? Pay attention to the posted signs! They’re there for a reason.
Have you had an innocent excursion go wrong? If so, I’d love to hear about it!