That’s French for “I skinned my ankle this past week.”
Usually, accidents like this happen during a 3-day holiday weekend at the lake. But no, this one struck early. It was 10 a.m. on the Friday before Labor Day, the very last workday before the long weekend.
We were on the last day of our big 50-year anniversary celebration and sale at FlagandBanner.com. That morning, I was rushing around setting up refreshments in the showroom for our planned photo-op with the Flag Police, when I remembered I needed to run back home for something.
Once home, I hurriedly went through the side yard and took a short cut over our little 18-inch “Coco barricade” fence. That’s when it happened. As I launched my right foot over, my back flip-flop caught. In an instant, I knew I was going down.
Moving too fast and unable to recover, I went with it, hurling my purse and coffee out of the way to free up my hands as I braced for the fall. For a moment, I thought I had nailed the landing with just a few scrapes and bruises.
But My back foot told a different story.
I felt the pain first. Then I looked back. There filleted open for all to see was a gouge and my skin pulled back exposing raw meat. There must have been a barb on the fence that my thinning skin grazed just right.
Picking up my purse I hobbled to the front porch. Thankfully Grady was still home and answered the phone when I called saying, “Grady, I am on the front porch. I have hurt myself bad. Bring the hydrogen peroxide.”
A Trip to the Emergency Room
For the next hour, we played battlefield medic; cauterizing the wound with the peroxide and weighing our options for stitches. First, we called my GP, he said he was too old and out of practice to make a pretty scar and recommended Urgent Care. At Urgent Care they didn’t feel comfortable stitching up something so big and recommended a plastic surgeon. Grady called our surgeon friend; he was already at the lake.
As a last resort, we ended up at Baptist’s emergency room, an exercise in what it must feel like to live in a 3rd world country. The wait was long, the staff calloused, and the crowd colorful, a study in human behavior.
At one point I could take it no longer and ask this ghetto man who was showing off by loudly talking on his speaker phone, calling his so-called friends the “N” word, asking the chat people to show him their titties, and saying he was going to get high soon, to please take his conversation outside because there were children and old people in the room.
With no home training and certainly no grace, he started calling me a crazy old lady. The concierge came over, glared at me and said she was going to call Security. I replied, “Yes, please do that” for which she was dumb struck. That is when the ghetto guy’s friend came over and took him outside to cool off.
Finally, after 5 hours I was stitched up by Nurse Dan. I was glad I waited because his stitches, from years of practice, are very nice, indeed.
Holiday Weekend Back on Schedule
Less than 24 hours later we are at the lake, where I took care not to get the new wound wet. At my daughter’s suggestion to keep it from healing stiff, I’ve been stretching and exercising the “Fillet de Anklet” a lot. Weirdly, it is not that painful, just bothersome.
This “Life of Kerry” extended into a beautiful 3-day weekend at the lake with new friends, family, fun, and more stories. But those stories we’ll save for another time.
About the Author
Kerry McCoy founded FlagandBanner.com in 1975 with just $400 and a dream, building it from door-to-door flag sales into a multi-million dollar enterprise. With over five decades in the American flag and banner business, her insights into patriotic trends and flag sales patterns come from serving customers nationwide during times of celebration, crisis, and everything in between.
Kerry is also the host of “Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy” radio show and continues expanding her business empire through Kerry McCoy Enterprises while sharing the entrepreneurial wisdom gained from decades of building the American dream.
