21,900 Days Ago

The morning of the tragedy, she looked adorable!

It has been 5 years, but I can still remember every single detail.  It was one of the worst days of my entire life, and certainly the worst day of hers.  She was 3, and so completely innocent.  She had spent the morning at preschool, and I had spent the morning at a friend's house.  It was a planned morning with several other moms in which we worked hard to finish a project.  

After preschool she came to my friend's house to play with her daughter while I finished the project at hand.  I was working hard and so close to being finished.  My friend gave the girls a snack, and when they were finished they headed to the back yard to play.  Neither of us had a clue that they went outside, but the yard was fenced.  We wouldn't have stopped them if they had told us that was their plan.  

***WARNING : GRAPHIC PHOTO CONTENT BELOW***

The next 30 mins plays out in my head like an episode of Rescue 9-1-1.  Do you remember that show?  Narrated by William Shattner, so please read this part in his voice!

Molly & Abbie finished their snack, and headed to the back yard to play on the swing set.  They were excited to play and ran past their shoes.  Molly pulled the sliding glass door open, and they stepped out onto the back porch.  They headed down the stairs to the path that headed out back.  The path was made of black slate pavers which were surrounded by mulch.  It was the hottest day so far that year and the sun had been baring down on the back yard all morning.  Molly made it to the path first, and chose to walk in the mulch knowing that is was soft, and the pavers were hot.  Abbie, however, was unfamiliar with this pathway and decided to avoid what looked like sharp mulch and walk on the pavers.  

Molly's mom was washing dishes at the sink, and I was in the dining room.  We both were blind sided when Molly came running into the kitchen in panic.  "Abbie is hurt really bad, she is crying.  Come outside right now."  I jumped up and looked out the window, but I saw no sign of Abbie.  Molly's mom was looking out the kitchen window and saw nothing either.  She beat me outside and found Abbie lying on the ground screaming in pain.  She picked Abbie up and carried her up the steps of the porch.  I was looking for anything, any sign of a broken bone, blood, or bee sting.  What on earth could be causing this kind of pain?  

That is when I noticed that she had her feet curled up tight.  It was unusual, and since she was being carried into the house, it was obvious that something had happened to her feet.  We sat her on the sofa and I immediately grabbed her ankles to look at her feet from the bottom. I remember thinking there is absolutely no way on earth that this could be as bad as it looks.  Her feet literally looked like they had been melted.  How?  I mean, HOW???  What melted her feet???

My mind was racing, and trying to think of any Pinterest hack I had seen for burns.  I could think of nothing.  I am honestly not the fastest on my feet in emergency situations.  So I told Molly's mom to fill a bowl with ice water as fast as possible, and grab 4 washcloths.  

I put ice cold cloths on her feet and the second they got warm, I switched them with the ones soaking in ice water.  Every single time I put the cloths on her feet, you would hear a slight sizzle.  What in God's name happened to my baby girl?  I just couldn't make sense of this.  There was no way that I could put her in a car and she needed pain meds FAST.  So I called 911, and it wasn't long until I heard the sweet relief of sirens approaching the house.  I scooped her up and ran outside.  They put her on the stretcher and looked at her feet.  The responders seemed to be just as surprised and confused as I was.  They went back to look at the scene of the accident to try and get a better grasp on what happened, and began working on a pediatric dose of morphine to give Abbie on the way to the hospital.  That ambulance ride was the longest ride of my life.  I didn't think we would ever make it and the meds weren't kicking in fast enough.  She was in so much pain, and I couldn't take it away.

After seeing the ER doctor on duty, they bandaged her feet up, and the pain meds finally started working their magic.  The doctor said her burns were second degree, and might be about 25% of each foot.  He wanted to see her in 24 hours to see if any changes occurred and reassess the burns.  So, we headed back the following day.  When the bandages were removed, the doctor actually gasped.  He said he was not aware of how significant the burns were or how much of her feet had been affected the day before.  Abbie had what this doctor called 2 1/2 degree burns.  The nerves hadn't been damaged but the level of damage done was very close to 3rd degree burns.  Every single toe had been burned as well.  This meant that Abbie walked onto the pavers on the balls of her feet.  Almost trying to tip toe.  When her feet began to burn, she was in so much pain that she went into shock and virtually froze.  Her feet continued to sear on the stones until she fell over.  As the doctor described this to me, my heart sank.  As a mom, all you want to do is prevent your kids from suffering, and I had failed miserably.  

The burns had to be debrided at a burn unit, and that was another nightmare of epic proportions.  We held her down while they cut the blisters off to prevent infection and aid in faster healing.  

It took weeks for the burns to even begin showing signs of healing.  She refused to walk for several weeks, and we bandaged the wounds every day.

Eventually, she was able to stop wearing what she called her "special socks".  However, it was another month before she would take a bath without actual socks on her feet.  Her feet were so sensitive to everything.

Soooooo, why on earth am I telling you guys this horror story?  Today, is Abbie's 5 year Burniversary.  That is right, we celebrate this day!  Why?  Because we all have a little PTSD from it, and because it keeps a very valid reminder in our head... 

WEAR SHOES WHEN YOU GO OUTSIDE.  

How do we celebrate it?  Well, we buy a pair of shoes every year on this day of course!!

And her shoes this year are adorable!!  In fact, her mom has 2 pairs that match in different colors!

Our 2018 Burniversary Shoes

She loves her new shoes, and couldn't believe it has been 5 years since that happened.  Kids don't remember a lot of stuff from when they were 3, but that day is not one we will ever forget.  

If I never have to hear my children in pain like that again, it would be too soon.  And it this post helps prevent even a single child from suffering the same pain as Abbie, than it was worth typing!

5 years.  21,900 days.  525,600 hours.  31,536,000 minutes.  1,892,160,000 seconds.

And yet, it feels like yesterday.

Happy 5th Burniversary Abbie girl.  I love you...