A day on the dirt bikes went off-course. Charles Listak, of the 53rd Test Management Group, and his family were wrapping up a day at the dirt bike track when his son was injured in an accident. His son ended up with both arms in casts. (Courtesy photo)
A day on the dirt bikes went off-course. Charles Listak, of the 53rd Test Management Group, and his family were wrapping up a day at the dirt bike track when his son was injured in an accident. His son ended up with both arms in casts. (Courtesy photo)
A day on the dirt bikes went off-course. Charles Listak, of the 53rd Test Management Group, and his family were wrapping up a day at the dirt bike track when his son was injured in an accident. His son ended up with both arms in casts. (Courtesy photo)
Commentary by Charles Listak
53rd Test Management Group
8/12/2011 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- My children enjoy riding off-road motorcycles. I ensure they wear all the necessary protective gear - helmets, goggles, boots, gloves, knee braces, elbow guards, chest protectors, kidney belts, and most importantly, neck braces.
One summer day, we were at the motocross track with a few friends. It was getting late and the track was about to close. Everyone except our group left so we had the entire track to ourselves.
One friend pulled out a camera and said something to the effect of "Now that everybody's gone, let's get some action shots!" (This was mistake number one.) My son decided to try the 'double-jump' he was afraid of until the camera appeared.
Over-confidence and insufficient speed resulted in a jolting impact on the second jump. He stayed upright for several seconds until he coasted to a stop and fell over.
When I arrived he said his arm hurt, so I carried him back to the truck and provided the 'dad' medical analysis (mistake number two), which meant looking at his arm and determining he was fine, except for a jammed wrist.
At home, my son complained to his mother about his arm. She over-reacted, in my initial opinion, and we went to the emergency room. It turned out he was hurt more than I thought, because after x-rays, he was put in a temporary cast.
We returned to the hospital the following day for fitting of a six-week cast. As we were about to leave, my son said, "Dad, my other arm hurts, too."
Repeating mistake number two (dad's medical analysis), I replied, "Don't worry about it, it'll feel better soon." The doctor overheard us and said he should x-ray the other arm. I said it was unnecessary (mistake number three - not trusting the medical professionals), but he insisted.
My son returned to the waiting room with a cast on his other arm and an 'I told you so' smirk on his face.
My lessons learned from that day at the track were: Don't push things when you're tired, especially on a hot summer day; when it comes to injuries, seek treatment; don't assume that being a dad makes you a medical expert; trust medical professionals for diagnosis and trust your wife for common sense.
