Spent a great week in the Lakes, last day but one we took a walk to High Sweden Bridge with our two sons 2.5yrs & 4yrs old…both loved the walk up even if it was hot !
We had lunch at the bridge, after lunch the 4yr old wanted to look at the river so we went to the side (if you know the walk you’ll know what it looks like) I was holding his hand and he lost his footing…he went straight back and hit the back of his head on a bolder, (will not forget the sound it made when his head hit the boulder) he cried out in what can only be described as complete agony, lots of blood , he went white/limp, but not unconscious which in the grand scheme was good…applied pressure to the wound etc assessed the situation as good as I could, no signal on phone at that point, so ran him down only stopping to call 999 (mrs had the 2.5yrs old also running down) all the time my son was telling me he wanted to go to sleep…and me crying and telling him to stay awake counting to ten with him. when I spoke to the emergency services they said either ambulance at the road(where track meets first road) or helicopter…
it took 20 mins to get to the road running with him and a rucksack don’t know where the energy came from !
Ambulance got there first and rushed him off to Lancaster, my wife and other son went in the ambulance and I was dropped off at the car(that felt weird I wanted to be with him so much) they rushed off and I drove their calmly(ish).
concussed, head wound glued back observed discharged that eve, back to Staveley.
Now back home in London I feel very numb about it all I shouldn’t have moved him at all and cant stop going over that in my head I could have made things worse(even though the Ambulance crew said I did the right thing) (my dad/brother both Mountain guides told me never move a patient etc) I did what I felt was right…
Cant talk to the wife about it feels to painful and I know she feels the same way I do…

Massive thanks to the Ambulance/Mountain rescue team of Ambleside

As a father I think I have felt the worse sort of pain I could feel at that time and its not gone yet ! Very lucky to have my little boy and thank (what ever/who ever you believe in or don’t) that he was okay.

If he is ok now you did the right thing.

Way I see it is you did what YOU as a FATHER had to do to save your son. Could the helicopter land where you were? I’d of done exactly the same as you. Your boy is ok, and safe and well. You did what you needed to do!

sounds to me like you saved your sons life

best dad ever

don’t worry about moving him, clearly it was the right thing to do. The thing with first aid is there aren’t rules only guidelines. Moving a patient with unknown mechanism of injury is not reccomended, but given that you saw what happened its unlikely he had a spinal injury, and the only other option would be to wait for a passer by or leave him.

I’d do exactly the same and I’d get fired if I cocked up a patient! Hope little en feels better soon!

You did absolutely the right thing under the circumstances.

Cant talk to the wife about it feels to painful and I know she feels the same way I do…

Don’t bottle it up! You must talk to each other about it. A really good cry for both of you will help. Been there know it helps big time, and not talking just makes things worse.

you did the right thing.glad your son is ok 😀

So glad all okay.

Clearly the right thing to do as he is fine. And accidents happen – that was all this was – you have to talk to your wife and both accept that.

I am 100% certain I would have done the same as you.

Not sure where a helicopter would have landed its pretty wooded.

My wife and son drew a picture of an ambulance today and we have sent a letter thanking them.

…will try and speak to her in the morning

It’s all very well what the guidelines say but the guidelines are never there to witness a situation as it happens…. In you’r case I beleive I would have done the same thing, you should feel no shame, your boy is fine and you made sure of that…. You should talk to your wife, you acted when allot of people would have froze! You get top marks in my book!

I’ve been an A&E nurse for 17 years, and have seen folk lose people because of the whole ‘don’t move them’ mindset. You got your lad to where help was; you stepped up when you needed to, you have my respect. I’ll never forget the feeling i got in my stomach when one of the medic’s took me to one side and said ‘i think it’s your daughter on the way in, she’s been hit by a car and it’s not good, but you know we willdo all we can’. She’s fine now, but it’s not hard to guess what haunts my dreams. All the best!

That last post sends a shiver down my spine. Just today I was walking out of a public loo with my daughter. She saw her mum and twin sister on the other side of the road and dashed out before I had a chance to react. No harm done but all the way home from our day out I was playing out horrible outcomes in my head and feeling bad for letting it happen. (they are only just turned 3 so we have only just started teaching them about road safety).

Gosh, that sounds frightening. 🙁 You really must talk with your wife though, when you’re ready obviously. Thank goodness the little lad is OK.

I can sort of understand where you’re coming from though. Nearly a year ago I had a dark side accident, was found semi-conscious in the road (although I have no memory) by a driver who apparently put me and my bike in his works van to take me to hospital.

Thing is, later I got quite upset that he’d moved me, didn’t know whether it had been a hit and run or what. It was only after I’d met him, when he returned my bike, that he said it was dangerous to wait for an ambulance on such a narrow winding road.

Shock does such weird things to our thought processes but you did what any sensible Dad would do so don’t be hard on yourself.

As the others have said, basic first aid is always “don’t move the patient if you don’t know the injury”.

You did know the injury as you saw it, which then means getting help as fast as possible without harming the patient. As others have said, it sounds like your actions saved your son a lot of complications.

I’ve had some basic expedition first aid, and in those situations, not moving the patient may mean the worst for all of you. The “don’t move them” mantra was swiftly drummed out of us on that day!

Your job as his dad is to protect him no matter what

You did that by assessing what you saw, taking control and tapping into that reserve of energy that only parents have 🙂

Good job I’d say

not surprised you can’t talk about it yet; when my youngest was 2 I stepped down through some boulders and lost my footing, falling around 8 feet straight down to some more rocks. My son’s weight in my arms meant he was going to impact first. Somehow I managed to twist my body mid air and took the landing on my right shoulder and elbow. I think he might have died that day if I hadn’t moved so quick. First couple of times I tried to speak about it I just retched repeatedly.

sounds to me like you saved your sons life

best dad ever
^This

Children are the most amazing gift. You did the right thing. You the man!

/doffs cap

Well done that man, sounds like a horrible situation but you aced it.
Feel proud and walk tall (just gloss over the fact he was holding you hand hen he fell…..just saying).

Seriously…well done. Mine is 6 and I’m shocked we haven’t had something similar.

You took him out on a proper holiday to a lovely place. He had a small accident that had a disproportionately large consequence and you still did the right thing. You must have done the right thing you couldn’t really have had a better outcome could you? So, +1 for the well done count!

I feel crap every time my little girl (the one that is big enough to get into trouble) gets hurt when I am in charge of her and can only imagine the feeling of guilt, panic and fear if I thought she was properly injured.

Talk to your wife, it wasn’t your fault, don’t hide from it. (The feeling if guilt will stay for a while though I guess, I am learning that it goes with the territory!)

Mate… Well done!!

Horrible horrible situation that… Been there myself when my girl broke both wrists when a rope swing snapped. I just picked her up from the bottom of a ravine and ran to the road! Worst thing in the world seeing your children hurt… but your all home safe and well.

No go and have a massive big cry with the misses and be thankful for your two kids!

Well done. You did the right thing and there’s no other way to look at it.

_DO_ talk to your wife about it. Talking things through is the best thing that you can do in situations like this.

Completely did the right thing, you made an assessment at the time and he’s okay now so it’s all right. you couldn’t have rung 999 from there no reception, who would’ve stayed with him? you could run quicker but could you have taken the 2.5 year old with you? Could you wife have dealt with him without you whilst you went to get help? Hundreds of what if’s but they don’t matter you did teh right thing.

Whatever happens though you MUST speak to your wife who knows what she is thinking too and this will make you stronger to talk about it.

I think you need to cut yourself some slack, I suspect you assessed the situation rather than acting out of panic, certainly sounds like you still remember assessing the wound, his reactions and what you thought you needed to do.

Little boys are not only incredibly resilient they are also excellently accident prone.

When I was a kid a I managed to fall head first out of a car in a car park (feet caught up in a seat belt). I also fell through the hatch on a boat into the lower decks, not to mention the endless bike incidents. I guess what I’m trying to say is, give a kid a ‘safe’ clean looking environment and they will still find a way to injure themselves, so don’t blame yourself for the situation or the accident, these things happen.

Sounds like you stepped up when you really needed to.

Well done – you took action, and may well have saved his life. Not everyone could have done that.

Hope you and Mrs ufg can talk about it and sort it quickly. The silly thing is, you’ll be telling the tale and smiling (if not actually laughing!) about it, in years to come!

Good luck, and well done, again.

Glad he and rest of family are OK – as above it sounds like little things like keeping him awake have helped massively.
Things have worked out – you did the right thing as there is never a ‘perfect’ answer to these things – and he is on road to recovery.
Find someone to speak to about it – and then see if you can speak to your wife about it.
*offers man hugs*

I think it is only natural to think “what if” after the event and imagine the worst. For what it is worth, I think you did the best you could for your son and I am glad for you that he is OK. Small children are accident prone and seem to be able to have these accidents despite the best efforts of their parents.

Sounds like you would have had to wait for an Air ambulance, it would have needed a landing place etc. and/or the land crew would have needed to walk up and find you and then you would have had to carry the child out anyway, all of which would have further delayed hospital and professional care. The advice not to move is a guideline that is sensible in most circumstances with serious trauma, but not an inviolate law of nature. It sounds like you made good decisions in highly stressful circumstances.

For what it is worth I give that opinion as a pre hospital care doctor with over 25 years experience of supporting the Ambulance service and pulling people out of badly parked rally cars.

weldone unfitgeezer, now please talk to your wife, as the emotion will build up and rip you both apart.

I am in awe of you. We all dread anything happening to our children and hope that if needed, we can step up to the mark and do whatever it takes. You saved his life, it’s only natural to feel as you do.

Now speak with your wife.

Got some dust in my eyes now. 😥

You did what was needed. Well done.

After another sleepless night I left for work at 6.30 so not had a chance to talk yet but have spoken on the phone and have said I want to tell her how Im feeling as last night we had a massive arguement…emotions !

Just wanted to add that both of my sons had the correct foot wear on as we do a lot of walking.

Thanks for your words encouragement.

You did the right thing. At least you didn’t do nothing.

*ps my Dad is in Frnechey Hospital right now with a punctured lung form getting a drop off wrong at Yer Tiz trail at Bristol last Wednesday. I suggested going there and still feel racked with guilt.

I think you did fine. After that kind of incident it is natural to go over what happened in your mind and also to imagine the worst. It is also natural after the fact to view things through a twisted perspective – this is caused by guilt. It is most likely that because you were with the little man at the time that you are blaming yourself way too much – hence the guilt!

Speak to your wife when you are ready to and not before.

Once again, you did fine!

J

unfitgeezer.
There are two things you need to focus on.
1) Your son is fine and well, rather than in a mortuary.
2) You NEED to talk to your wife NOW. Dont leave this to fester between the two of you.

Accidents happen, there is no one to blame. Its all very well thinking what if, its human nature to over analise things. BUT IT DIDNT.
(please dont take this as me being cold and uncaring, you just need to step back a bit)

You had the row as you haven’t spoken about how you are feelingu will DO IT tonight before anything else and before more arguments, you will both feel guilt, disappointment, what if’s do it..