When I answered the phone, I asked where he was, and his calm reply was something like, "...Um...I think I've...hurt my ankle. Pretty badly. Um, I can't ski on it, and I'm not sure I can walk on it. Could you please come and get my skis and boots for me?"
I ran over to the lodge and saw him sitting on the edge of a bench, outside, by the ski racks. His face, when he saw me, gave away his pain level. He has a very high pain-tolerance, but I could tell. I had him try to take his boot and sock off, so I could look at the ankle, and he gingerly did so. The swelling that was already there, plus the way he flinched and said it might be broken, had me running over to the office to ask for medical help.
First Aid arrived on the scene, after skiing down from their post at the top of the mountain. After taking a look at the ankle, the main guy told me that he thought it was likely broken, but was not certain. He and another man strapped E onto a wheelchair-type chair, a female staff member helped Logan and Cam bring E's skis and boots to the locker room, and another man helped me gather our bags and bring them to the van.
Once we all met back in the First Aid building, they splinted E's ankle up and filled out paperwork. They offered to call an ambulance, or taxi, or to help load him into the van. I had already called our doc and Mark, and had arranged to meet Mark halfway so he could bring E to Urgent Care(and I could bring L to drums and make dinner).
They helped carry and hoist him into our van, and E's pain was high but he was not complaining. Met Mark and they got over to the hospital. Mark got a wheelchair and lifted E out of the van and wheeled him in. Luckily, there was not a wait and the hospital had him in, X-Rayed, air-casted and fitted with crutches, pretty quickly. Within a couple of hours, Mark was on his way home- the XRay had not shown a break. However, a fracture was unable to be detected on it, and an appt w a specialist (w fancier xray equipment) was needed, as a follow-up.
It's been a week and the swelling has gone way down. E has done awesomely on the crutches and has kept his foot elevated most of the day. He ices it morning and evening. The follow-up xray appt is tomorrow. We're hoping for no fracture to be found! Would be so awesome if he could lose the crutches earlier than originally expected. We will see!
He has written a little blurb about it, on his blog: www.playthekeys.com
