A few years ago I began to dread the beginning of summer for one reason only. It seemed that as my young teenage son was growing up we would experience a moment of summer madness.
This particular phone call did it for me, gave me that heart stopping moment:
‘Mum, I’m being stretchered in… the car hit the house…oh okay mate… ambulance man says I’ve gotta go. Bye.’
My heart skipped a few beats… I sat bolt upright in bed, it’s 4am!
Now what do I do? I know he’s alive. I heard him speak. He can’t drive so he was passenger, who else is with him, how did the car hit a house? It’s four in the morning and I have no idea where he’s going, or which hospital?
It’s at moments like these that you could cheerfully scream at your off-spring, and ask: 'What were you thinking?' But I digress. Youngsters are carefree and all you pray is that they make it to adulthood, that far at least, without major injury, trauma or damage.
Naturally I got out of bed, went down to make a pot of tea and I waited and then made a few phone calls. Once I’d had a shower - I was ready to go as soon as I’d established where he was going.
Arriving early at the A&E department I was surprised how many of his friends had been involved one way or another.
There had been five of them in the car and none of them wore seat belts… they were lucky to be alive, considering how heavily they had all piled in on top of each other on impact! To hamper the ambulance crew and nursing staff all the occupants of the car had been paddling in the sea (prior to accident) and none of them were wearing shoes.
They hobbled out of hospital later that day with their feet covered in scrapes and bruises, just scrapes and bruises. And for that I will always be truly grateful.
I have to say, parenting a teenager is the hardest thing I have ever done. I can only imagine the heart stopping moment when he said those words. I'm glad he's ok.
ReplyDeleteI survived raising two sons, they are now 23 & 25 but you never stop the worry. The teenage years were worrisome and a test for us at parents to learn to let go and trust. A good exercise because you are forced to do it when they leave. They are both great and I am grateful that when they do need us or our advice, they ask. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any kids but I still got a scary phone call a few months back when my husband called to tell me he fell at a construction site and was on his way to the hospital. So I can imagine your fright.
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