I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends

Kendra Campbell -- A few days ago I was running with my friends through a slightly off-the-beaten path on the island toward some waterfalls. I got a little too excited when jumping over a log, slipped on a rock, and came crashing down on my ankle. As soon as I heard the loud cracking noise, I knew that I was in trouble. My ankle rapidly swelled up to nearly twice its normal size, and the pain was pretty severe. We had to cut the run short, and I sought medical attention the next day. The doctor at the clinic on campus wrapped my ankle, gave me a prescription for some pain meds, loaned me a set of crutches, and gave me an order to get an x-ray at the hospital. Unfortunately, the hospital is about an hour away, and me being the stubborn fool that I am, I decided to wait a few days to get the x-ray, hoping that it was just a sprain and that I’d be back on my feet in a few days.

Well, it’s now been a few days, and my ankle doesn’t look or feel any better, so I’m planning on going to the hospital tomorrow to get it x-rayed. It’s only been 3 days since the fall, but I’m already starting to lose it. The problem is that I’m a very active person. Not only do I run, swim, and work-out, but I generally move a lot during a given day. Whenever I study, I take a break about every hour to run around the room, or walk the trail by my house. I pride myself on the fact that I’ve lived on this island for almost a year without a car, and I’ve never used a taxi. I walk everywhere I need to go, even if it means strapping a huge back-pack to my back to carry all of my groceries. I also hate to use the “h” word (help) to get anything accomplished. I enjoy pushing myself to my limits to see what I can do on my own.

This means that the past few days have been a living hell. I can’t go running. I can’t even walk down to campus. Actually, I can barely even make it to the bathroom without help (gasp -- the “h” word!) As I’m sitting here right now on my bed, I’d really enjoy a nice glass of water, but I know that it would either take me ten minutes (and a bit of pain) to get it myself, or ask my partner Micah to do it. Of course, he’d be more than happy to do so, but it would require me to swallow my pride and ask.

Of course, a sprained (or even broken) ankle is really not all that severe of an injury. Considering how many people must live their whole lives without one arm, or both legs, or hands, my injury seem quite miniscule. But nonetheless, it has given me a very interesting perspective. Luckily, my wounds will probably heal, but not everyone else is as lucky. I have the utmost respect for people who have to live with various physical disabilities, and I can understand how it feels to have to rely on other people for help. The next time I’m in a hospital (or anywhere else, for that matter), and a patient asks for help, I’ll try to not only remember to help them kindly, but also remember how it feels to be the one having to ask for help.