Story #38: One Day to Change a Life

One Day to Change a Life

     It was a cold morning in March. James, a 9 year student at Mount Valaskez

elementary, had the day off school for some Polish guy he had never even heard of.

He had no idea this day would change his life forever.

     Peter, James’s father, was a farmer. A farmer who knew that work built character.

So he made sure his kids had plenty of both. Most kids James’s age would look

forward to a day off school, but James wasn’t most kids. He was a farm boy that spent

every extra minute of his adolescent life working. If he wasn’t farming he was doing

miscellaneous manual labor for his father. He loved putting in a hard days work, but

he would much rather just hang out with his friends at school. So on this March 2nd

day, with a day free of school, it was inevitable that he would have to get up early and

work. On this day however, He would be doing something new. This job is something

that all of his brothers have done for years and he is just coming of age to do. Today,

he’d be operating a log splitter.

     James had never operated a log splitter. He was going to have to use a chainsaw

to cut up trees and then use a log splitter to separate the sections of logs into wood for

a fireplace. To control the chainsaw and do the job required a lot of strength, that he

just barely enough of, to do. He felt comfortable doing it though because he would be

accompanied by his dad and brother. Allen, his 12 year old brother, was helping him

run the log splitter. While his dad moved the logs and cut them with the chainsaw.

     James, only 9, forgot a very important rule. Getting to comfortable running the log

splitter he accidentally set his hand on the platform. His hand was smashed. He ran

to his father screaming, “DAD! DAD! DAD!” His dad, freaking out on the inside, told

him calmly to go inside and get ice. His father ran to his truck and pulled it up to the

house. Donkey Teeth, losing a lot of blood, felt like he would faint. Allen helped him

up to the house and sat him down. His whole left arm was in shock and he couldn’t

feel a thing. Seeing his hand like this, he knew that this wasn’t just any injury. He

would never be back to the way he was.

     At the Hospital his mom Susan was waiting. Susan, being a mom, was ten times as

freaked out as James. She was overprotective and super cautious. Making sure the

nurses were especially careful as well. Sure enough 9 hours later he had surgery. He

was terrified, and just before he went in he heard a nurse talking about possible

amputation.

     He came out of the surgery, over 200 stitches, rods in 2 fingers and immense pain.

He had kept all of his fingers, for now anyway. He was still slightly sedated when they

wheeled him out, but he was awake enough to see people in the waiting room.

Throughout this whole traumatic event he never shed a tear. That was until he seen

how many people were in that waiting room waiting for him to come out. His whole

family, family friends, and just friends filled the waiting room. He had never felt so

loved.

     As years past he had 6 more surgeries and each one got him closer and closer to

normal. People don’t even notice his hand unless he points it out. It affects him on a

daily bases but he knows how to manage it. That one simple mistake, will affect him

forever.