Serious Trauma

Serious Trauma

On a boring Wednesday afternoon, I sat in a brightly lit CPR classroom listening to the instructor drone on and on. I began to wonder if I would ever actually need to use these skills. I highly doubted it. The past two years I have worked at the "little-kid-infested" North Fork Swimming Pool, where there have been absolutely no emergencies. A bloody nose or a stubbed toe here or there but never any serious traumas.

These skills that I thought were so useless were put to the test on a chilly Tuesday night in March. The evening started out normal enough, tennis practice and little bit of sparring in Tang So Doo class. That night the instrumental solo and ensemble contest was being held at HHS. Even though I am not a member of the band, I was asked to help out. I was involved in a saxophone quartet with Nolan Cmerek, Mandy Bever and Haley Benson. The four of us warmed up together and patiently waited for our time to come. Distracting us from the complete boredom we were experiencing, a few boys who had watched Louise and I spar in Tang So Doo, engaged in a dunking contest in the gym. The object of this game, as made by Gates and Tyler Shaklee, the "basketball stars", was to run, jump on a plyo box, and dunk the ball in the basketball hoop, suspended from the gym ceiling.

This was amusing to us, the spectators. One particular spectator thought he would join in the fun. The third contestant, Jim Pratt, made his first attempt but lost his grip and fell onto the gym floor on his stomach knocking the air out of him. He got up holding his stomach, gasping for air, and laughing at himself at the same time. The small crowd joined in laughing with him. Nobody wants to try, fail and just quit, so naturally, Jim wanted to try again. Many of the cautious few in the audience expressed their doubts as to whether he should try it again. Jim, having the competitive nature I am sure that all teenage boys possess, attempted to dunk the round orange ball one more time.

His second attempt was again a failure but of a different and more serious type. The momentum of Jim’s feet kept going as he grasped the rim. This motion swung him upside down forcing him to lose his grip and fall ten very long feet.