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Seeing as I got home from work early and the sun was shining (it happens from time to time) I thought I was start clearing the winter mess from the garden. Today was a good day to clean the pond.
My two kids playing in the garden, me cleaning the pond, I went down to the shed to get something out. What could not have been a minute or two later I heard a blood-curdling scream from my eldest - 7 years old - "DAD! DAD! DAD!". This scream was different. I was not the dad-there-is-a-giant-spider-on-my-foot. This chilled me instantly. It was then that my brain suddenly connected two things: My 2.5 year old daughter was in the garden and I had just been cleaning the pond.
I've never been an overly protective parent. I've never been one to watch kids like a hawk. I would rather they learn through experience (i.e. falling out a tree) than tell them not to climb in case they fall. It's a simple case of seeing if they will get hurt or will they get injured. For the last 6 years it's worked well. Explain to them what the deal is, if they get hurt then, as my mother used to say "don't come crying to me". This has always worked and the kids are quite good at being sensible.
Come screaming back to the blood-curdling scream; My legs started bounding back towards the pond before my, as Chris would say "dainty frame" could catch up. It felt like I covered 120 feet in 3 steps. While running I was realising that I could not see my youngest. As I neared the pond I could see my 2 year old under water. I will never forget the look on her face.
There she lay, moving slightly, with mud, fish shit and who knows what else a pond has on her face. Staring up at me in a panicked look. With obvious self-disregard I was in the in the pond and scooped her out. She was well and truly under water. The first few seconds - what felt like an eternity - she did nothing. I was now out the pond and kneeing next to it.
After she "gargled" out a huge amount of muddy black water she took a breath. Cough and choked more and gasped again. Ok, she's breathing on her own. There are two emotions I felt in the space of 30 seconds. I wish neither of these emotions on anyone.
As it turned out, my wife had made it to the pond at the same time as I but from the other direction. She too was standing in the pond - boots and all. I don't recall any of this. Judging by the state of both our shoes and jeans I don't doubt her account.
Once she was doing a half-decent job of breathing I called 112. The lady on the phone was amazing. It has to be an incredibly hard job at times. The tone of her voice changed notably when I said "My 2 year old daughter was in the pond". We went through the basics and in the meantime she had sent an ambulance. What happened next really annoyed me. They sent the only available ambulance from 13 miles away! They took what seemed like a lifetime.
I have the utmost admiration for the paramedics and the call centre staff. Their job must be one of extreme mixed emotions all for zero gratitude from the knob-ends who decide their worth: The government.
After everything had settled down I was having a chat to the guy. He's been criss-crossing Herts like this since 7am. They're short staffed and extremely busy.
We then had to do a 17 mile trip to the nearest hospital. Yup, the knob-ends thought it would be good to shut down the nearest hospital (QE-II - 5 miles away) and turn it into a glorified pharmacy. Instead, a super-hospital in Stevenage (Lister - 17 miles away). The ambulance got a head start on me. I needed to change and get my eldest changed. Some "spirited" driving by the Volvo (topped 130mph, ran out of road) we made it to the hospital at the same time.
Again, I have the utmost admiration for the staff at A&E. Having grown up with parents who worked in a trauma A&E in SA I have some appreciation for the jobs they do. After hooking her up to all the wires they were quite quickly satisfied that she was doing fine by herself. Sadly, both doctors in the paediatric A&E were busy with what sounded like a very sad case. The "noooo...." followed by crying from a mother could not have been good. It really hurt. I felt bad for being so thankful it was not me in her situation.
We eventually got discharged at 1am with loads of antibiotics (fish pond, two dead fish from winter, fish poo etc).
I've never had so much fun playing with my two daughters in the garden today. The slightest lapse of concentration could have changed so much....
I'm not sure why I write this - a simple way for me to get it off my chest.
My two kids playing in the garden, me cleaning the pond, I went down to the shed to get something out. What could not have been a minute or two later I heard a blood-curdling scream from my eldest - 7 years old - "DAD! DAD! DAD!". This scream was different. I was not the dad-there-is-a-giant-spider-on-my-foot. This chilled me instantly. It was then that my brain suddenly connected two things: My 2.5 year old daughter was in the garden and I had just been cleaning the pond.
I've never been an overly protective parent. I've never been one to watch kids like a hawk. I would rather they learn through experience (i.e. falling out a tree) than tell them not to climb in case they fall. It's a simple case of seeing if they will get hurt or will they get injured. For the last 6 years it's worked well. Explain to them what the deal is, if they get hurt then, as my mother used to say "don't come crying to me". This has always worked and the kids are quite good at being sensible.
Come screaming back to the blood-curdling scream; My legs started bounding back towards the pond before my, as Chris would say "dainty frame" could catch up. It felt like I covered 120 feet in 3 steps. While running I was realising that I could not see my youngest. As I neared the pond I could see my 2 year old under water. I will never forget the look on her face.
There she lay, moving slightly, with mud, fish shit and who knows what else a pond has on her face. Staring up at me in a panicked look. With obvious self-disregard I was in the in the pond and scooped her out. She was well and truly under water. The first few seconds - what felt like an eternity - she did nothing. I was now out the pond and kneeing next to it.
After she "gargled" out a huge amount of muddy black water she took a breath. Cough and choked more and gasped again. Ok, she's breathing on her own. There are two emotions I felt in the space of 30 seconds. I wish neither of these emotions on anyone.
As it turned out, my wife had made it to the pond at the same time as I but from the other direction. She too was standing in the pond - boots and all. I don't recall any of this. Judging by the state of both our shoes and jeans I don't doubt her account.
Once she was doing a half-decent job of breathing I called 112. The lady on the phone was amazing. It has to be an incredibly hard job at times. The tone of her voice changed notably when I said "My 2 year old daughter was in the pond". We went through the basics and in the meantime she had sent an ambulance. What happened next really annoyed me. They sent the only available ambulance from 13 miles away! They took what seemed like a lifetime.
I have the utmost admiration for the paramedics and the call centre staff. Their job must be one of extreme mixed emotions all for zero gratitude from the knob-ends who decide their worth: The government.
After everything had settled down I was having a chat to the guy. He's been criss-crossing Herts like this since 7am. They're short staffed and extremely busy.
We then had to do a 17 mile trip to the nearest hospital. Yup, the knob-ends thought it would be good to shut down the nearest hospital (QE-II - 5 miles away) and turn it into a glorified pharmacy. Instead, a super-hospital in Stevenage (Lister - 17 miles away). The ambulance got a head start on me. I needed to change and get my eldest changed. Some "spirited" driving by the Volvo (topped 130mph, ran out of road) we made it to the hospital at the same time.
Again, I have the utmost admiration for the staff at A&E. Having grown up with parents who worked in a trauma A&E in SA I have some appreciation for the jobs they do. After hooking her up to all the wires they were quite quickly satisfied that she was doing fine by herself. Sadly, both doctors in the paediatric A&E were busy with what sounded like a very sad case. The "noooo...." followed by crying from a mother could not have been good. It really hurt. I felt bad for being so thankful it was not me in her situation.
We eventually got discharged at 1am with loads of antibiotics (fish pond, two dead fish from winter, fish poo etc).
I've never had so much fun playing with my two daughters in the garden today. The slightest lapse of concentration could have changed so much....
I'm not sure why I write this - a simple way for me to get it off my chest.