One of the worst injuries that has ever occurred to me was having my fingers burned by extremely hot water. It was a cold, dark day at 7:31pm, and it was just me, my older brother, Gideon, and my younger brother, Theodore. I was 9 years old, Theodore was 2 years old, and Gideon was 12 years old. Every day I would drink some hot tea, because I tended to be extremely sensitive to the cold. And when I say sensitive, I am talking about that if I was drinking regular temperature water, I would be shivering probably throughout the rest of the night. Gideon was doing homework at the basement, while Theodore was sleeping in my parents’ bedroom.
I was making myself some hot tea, when accidentally poured hot water on my hand for 2 seconds. Now 2 seconds seem like nothing, but when something like this happens, it felt like 2 centuries. For a second after I pulled my hand out, I felt nothing. Then the seemingly endless pain kicked in. You would have thought I was a baby because of a burn, but if you had this injury, you would react the same exact way; probably more severe. Because of my loud screaming from the pain, Gideon instantly ran upstairs to investigate: “What happened? ” asked Gideon. “WHAT DO YOU THINK!!?? I yelled in agony. “I’m gonna call Dad; just put it in the water! ” Gideon replied. I ran to the nearest sink. Fortunately, only one part of one hand was burned, so I was able to turn on a continuous flow of cold water. It dulled the pain, but it still hurt like hell. Meanwhile, I heard Gideon’s conversation with Dad: “Dad, you need to come home now! ” Gideon demanded “Can’t right now. I’m at a meeting,” Dad replied. “Jeremy’s hand is burnt from hot water and I don’t think I can handle this by the looks of the wound! ” Gideon stated. For a minute it was silent.
He was right; when I took my hand out from the flowing cold water, I saw the blisters in my index and middle finger, which appeared insanely horrid. “Ok, I’m on my way! Keep an eye on him! ” Dad said. He hung up the phone, and found me a container big enough to submerge my hand in completely with ice water. Now I had no idea where Dad was, so all I could think about was all the things I would be unable to do for a long time, like writing, playing video games, eating, pretty much any activity that involved the use of hands, which I knew was almost everything! both wanted and needed to do.
It was 8 pm, and my Dad arrived home. Immediately when he saw my burn, he impulsively commanded: “Get some potato shavings! It will help ease down the pain a lot! ” “Are you crazy, Dad?! If you touch this, I will probably die out of the pain I have right now! ” I replied. What Dad should have known but did not realize until after he put down the potato shavings on top of the bubbly-looking area was that the type of burn afflicted on my 2 fingers was a 2nddegree burn, identified by blisters and extreme pain. I learned about this around 2 weeks back before the incident on the internet, while I was trying to search up a game.
I have no idea why I did not tell Gideon or my Dad, but it was probable that I was in a state of panic, which clouded my judgement for a while. Once he realized this, he threw them away, saying: “We’ll have to go to the emergency room; I can’t handle this anymore,” If there is one thing I do not like about Dad, it is that he tries to contain/solve the problem by himself ALL THE TIME, especially when it is inappropriate to do so.. One time when I had a pimple a week earlier, he thought that by popping it, it would get rid of all the pus.
I warned him the contrary, but he never listened, saying that I was too dependent on medications, and that the treatments people talk about are designed solely for money, not necessarily efficient. Anyway, Dad speedily drove me to the E. R. , and when we arrived, I alone was sent into a patient’s room. Note that throughout the entire incident, I kept my hand submerged in cold water in a plastic container. A nurse came over, and asked me as she was examining me: “So how did this happen? I hear your hand is in a critical condition right now. ” “I poured hot water on myself; I was trying to make tea… I said awkwardly, thinking that was the dumbest thing to say to anyone.
“You have blisters… I think I have the medication to help you out. I’ll be back,” she replied. She immediately came back with a cream, which I was supposed to apply to the burn extremely carefully every day. Then she wrapped the affected areas of my hand with gauze. “This should be carefully taken off when you want to put on the cream. I’ve taken care of everything that needs to be taken care of with your dad. You are free to go now,” she said. I finally left the E. R. with my dad, and when I arrived home, I immediately blacked out in my room.
As a result of these events, I realized several things: First, since my right hand (which was my dominant hand) was affected, I could order people to do my homework and classwork at school everyday, which was actually something I enjoyed doing. Consequently, at the same time, I no longer underestimated how my hand was used in everyday tasks, which was about as significant as my brain, in fact. In addition to these consequences, since 2nd degree burns are notorious for being the most painful injuries you could experience, I was now able to endure any other minor injuries, which did not occur as much anymore, since I became extremely cautious.