Injuries - Knee

At Challenger School, there was no such thing as hot lunch.  The exception was that on Friday's, you could pay for a slice of delivered pizza.  One Friday in 8th grade, as we were waiting for the pizza to get there, my best friend Amalie Wickes and I were taking turns playing the piano.  Another classmate, Erica, and I stood on the ledge on the back of the piano and looked over at the keys as Amalie played.  Erica started to use her weight to rock the piano back and forth.  Amalie and I both told her to stop, but she didn't.  As the piano's weight swung too far to the back, the piano started to fall.  Erica got out of the way, running clear across the room before the piano landed.

My dad says I lack self preservation skills.  Other people naturally put their hands in front of their face when they fall.  I don't have this instinct.  Other people run when a piano is falling.  

I apparently try to save the piano.

Of course, I did not stop the piano from falling.  However, my right knee cushioned its landing, as my leg was pinned in a bent position under the piano.  

I don't remember the piano being lifted off me, but certainly it was.  Someone went and got the principal, Mrs. Lewis, who was also my Aunt Enid.  And Enid went down to the very end of the hall to get my mom, the 6th grade teacher.  "Jackie, grab your purse," she said.  My mom, always calm and rational, wanted to know why.  "I'll explain on the way," Enid said.  

My mom arrived in the lunchroom and took over.  She called an ambulance, then had someone call my dad, who currently held the position of Maintenance Supervisor at Challenger School.  Having gone into shock, I told my friends, "Make sure when my dad gets here that you tell him the pencil sharpener in our classroom is broken."

The paramedics arrived and began to assess my swollen leg.  They had to cut my uniform pants, starting at the ankle and cutting up past the knee.  The area around my knee looked like a balloon had been inserted then blown up until my knee started mid-calf and extended to mid-thigh.  They braced my leg and loaded me into the ambulance, and I was taken to the nearest FHP hospital.

At the time FHP was one of Utah's prominent insurance companies, well known for being disliked by its patients.  This experience did nothing to change that reputation.

I remember clearly being in the hospital bed and hearing the doctors and nurses at the front desk making fun of the girl who had a piano fall on her.  I also remember being required to get myself from my bed-on-wheels up to the x-ray table, where the x-ray tech asked me to move my leg to a variety of positions.  I couldn't move the leg in a normal fashion; I had to reach down, grab my toes, and drag my leg to each required angle.

Amazingly, I had no broken bones!  I was sent home with a brace, crutches, and pain meds.  I was on the crutches for 1 week and in the brace for 2, and then I was pretty much recovered.  After seeing an orthopedic specialist, I discovered I had a torn ligament in the back of my knee that would likely never recover.  It still bothers me when I dance extensively or play soccer.

I survived the ordeal with an excellent "tell something unique about yourself" story to tell.  "I once had a piano fall on my leg..."