‘Don’t panic, but…’

For regular readers of my blog, you may remember this very interesting Wednesday, a few years ago. (If you don’t, have a read and maybe a laugh!)

Something similar happened last night, except this time, the kids were a long, long way away. Canberra, in fact. On a school camp.

A very peaceful and enjoyable Saturday night was being had by the boss and me; it had been a hectic week, with two days of lamb marking and then a 1800km round trip to Perth, to get the kids on the jet for, what I think could be, a life changing school camp. Five days between Sydney and Canberra. A couple of glasses of wine, a nice dinner and chat, then the phone rings.

‘Fleur, it’s the principal here. I don’t want you to panic, but…’ Now at this point, I was pretty sure there was something wrong and, I think, I burst into giggles, not knowing what to expect. When I hear ‘don’t panic,’ it’s usually the first thing I do!

So yes, back to the phone call: ‘…we’re at the emergency department with Hayden.’ Ah, yes, if anyone was going to hurt themselves, it would be the son! ‘We think he’s just sprained his ankle, but we’re not sure, it could be broken.’ Okaaay. It’s a bloody long way over there and I’m on the farm.

The poor principal sat with Hayden at the hospital for over four hours and still didn’t manage to get the ankle x-rayed! It was past midnight by the time they left, Hayden dosed up on painkillers and both just hanging out for their beds.

Today, they are back at the hospital trying to get an x-ray! It’s swollen up even more. Of course, as Murphy’s Law would dictate, this was the day Hayden was looking forward to the most, with Dinosaurs and Reptiles on the agenda. But as one of my friends said; “don’t worry, Fleur, camps are all about experiences and he would have NEVER seen the inside of the Canberra hospital, if he hadn’t hurt himself!’

I’m just so grateful to the principal and the other teachers and parents who are over there giving our kids a wonderful opportunity and looking after them so well. So to all the Mallee Muster crew – you rock!