Sophie Ashdown

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Your child being badly hurt and ending up in hospital.

My youngest son AJ caught a bad tackle on Saturday at school football which resulted in a broken tibia (front shin bone) which is supposed to be one of the most “unbreakable” bones.

As I write this, he is in theatre for an operation to reset the break with a plate and screws on the bone. This will be followed by 8-12 weeks in a cast and then months of rehab. Eventually after about a year he can have another surgery to remove the plate once everything is sealed.

For a very sporty 16 year old this is devastating. His life currently revolves around football, rugby, tennis, and various activities with his mates. Things will be very different for the next few months but to his credit he has been stoic about the whole thing.

His friends and other parents have been amazingly supportive. He has received so many messages of support and light teasing, as teenage boys do. The parents have been sending me some lovely kind messages too which has been very comforting.

What is interesting is how many other families have gone through similar experiences. Perhaps AJ’s school is particularly accident prone but I’ve had lots of great advice from the experience of others.

One thing that shines through is the amazing capability of the NHS. Every doctor, nurse, porter, etc have been incredibly kind and caring. It’s impressive that within 48 hours of the injury, AJ is having surgery.

As a parent it was challenging to keep my composure as I held AJ’s hand while they were giving him the anaesthetic. I know that he is in the best hands and that while the surgery is significant, it is not overly complicated. But still when it’s your child, there’s that fierce protectiveness that wants to take over. I wish I could give them my leg to operate on instead.

Hopefully by the time anyone reads this, AJ’s surgery will be done and everything has gone well. We have a long road of recovery ahead but at least the worst bit will be over.

This post is nothing to do with art but everything to do with recognising what is most important in life. Family, friends, health, resilience, and in this case, the NHS.