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I always try to be as safe as possible when I am in the
field, but sometimes things just happen; whether a pure accident or a result of
my mistake, someone else’s mistake, or just me being clumsy. This moment
happened during the 2011 deer hunting season. There were 3 of us hunting and
the John Deer Gator we were driving truly only held 2 people up front
comfortably; so since I was the first to be dropped off, I decided to ride in
the back of the gator, while the warnings clearly say not to.
My ride was short to my drop off point, so it didn’t seem
like a big deal. I rode in the back sitting down, holding my bow and my
husband’s bow so he could drive. As he stopped he got out and I handed him my
bow for some reason so I could climb out. I put one foot on the mini tailgate
to step on and jump out, but the tail gate was not closed properly. This led to
it opening and me falling towards the ground. All I could think about was I had
my husband’s bow in my hand and I couldn’t let it hit the ground. If I dropped it
he might have to re-sight it in, or I might break it. So as I fell toward the
ground I raised my right hand in the air with his bow in it which only left me
one hand to break my fall.
Instead however, my right knee absorbed the full impact
being the first thing to hit the ground and luckily for me, my knee landed
right on a rock. As I hit and rolled over on my back wincing in pain, I was
still holding my husband’s bow high in the air. He asked if I was ok. My
response….I said is your bow ok? He kept saying his bow was fine and checking
on me. I looked at my knee and saw a hole in my leaf suit but only saw dirt on
it. I said its hurts, but I’ll be fine; I just wanted to get my stuff and get
to my stand. They drove off and I began the walk to my tree climber.
It became apparent that because my injury was on my knee,
every time I bent it and took a step it opened the wound even more, causing
more and more pain. I had on shorts (it was hot) with my leaf suit over the top
which was causing more problems. The mesh from the suit was sticking to the
wound. So I pulled the leg of it up over my knee to keep walking. I got to my
tree climber and realized I was in for more pain. To climb the tree, I was
going to have to bend my knees over and over to maneuver the climber up the
tree. By this time, the dirt had worked itself out of the wound and blood was
streaming down my leg.
All I could think about was getting in my stand and then I
would figure it out there. So I climbed in pain and got settled in. As I set up
all of my gear, I realized the first aid kit was in the Gator. Again not the
brightest moment of not having some first aid gear in my backpack but lesson
learned. I began to inventory the contents of my bag and put my MacGyver skills
to work. I found a lens cleaning cloth that was in my binocular case which
would be the wound dressing to absorb and stop the bleeding, at least of a
while. Next I found my old back up head lamp that had an adjustable elastic
head band. I removed the light and adjusted the band around my knee to press
and hold the cloth onto my wound. It became my homemade band-aid. I was able to pull my leaf
suit leg over the bandage and was pretty much good to go.
The only problem was I could not elevate my leg sitting in
the tree climber so my knee throbbed the entire hunt, but at least I stopped
the bleeding. I still have the scar on my knee from that horrible fall, but I
was a great wife by holding my husband’s bow in the air and saving it, even
though my knee suffered the consequences. If that’s not dedication and awareness
I don’t know what is haha!
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