His 2-year-old sister, Eleanor, and his father followed him outside and stood on the patio clapping while they watched him make his way from one end of the playset to the other. He reached the end, and Eleanor ran out to stand under the bars, grinning up at him. His father congratulated Isaac from the patio and started to turn back into the house when Isaac's next sentence stopped him.
“I’m going to go across again!” Isaac then started back across the bars.
Immediately the impression came to his father's mind that if he attempted another crossing, he would fall. With Eleanor underneath, looking up at him, a serious injury could occur.
Issac's father jogged towards the bars and called out, “Wait a minute until I get Eleanor; I don’t want you to accidentally fall on her.”
It happened so fast. The sentence had barely left his mouth when Isaac’s grip started failing. Little sister was beneath, entranced by his progress and unaware of the danger. His progression stopped and he hung from the bar, desperately trying to hold on. But he was too tired. With all the practice he had done that day, his arms couldn’t hold on any longer. Isaac fell into a heap on the grass below. Eleanor collapsed as well.
Once Isaac's father reached them, he saw that Isaac was about a foot away from his sister. Eleanor was sitting on the grass unhurt, crying with fright. Isaac, though, was clenching his elbow, rolling on the ground, and shrieking in agony. He was hurt. Badly.
The father picked up his son and took him to the house. His arm hung at a funny angle, and he could tell something was wrong.
During the next week, they made visits to the orthopedic doctor. After many X-rays, Isaac was fitted with a cast. All the doctors and nurses were confused and made the same observation: Usually, when kids fall from monkey bars, their arms or wrists are injured, not their elbows. They explained to me that a person’s natural reaction is to throw his or her arms out and try to stop his or her fall, resulting in those more familiar injuries. Then they asked how Isaac managed to have his elbow hurt, an uncommon injury for a playground fall.
The father thought back to that Easter evening when Isaac had been hurt. He remembered when Isaac had fallen, he had been clutching his arm tightly to his side. Beneath him, Eleanor had escaped unscathed. After all the curious comments from the doctors, he approached his son and asked why he had been holding his arm so tightly to his body.
His explanation was simple: “I didn’t want to fall on Eleanor.”
This 5-year-old had overruled his body’s natural inclination of self-preservation in order to keep his little sister safe. Instead of breaking his fall by throwing out his hand, and likely injuring her, he had tucked his elbow in and forced himself to take the brunt of the fall.
Sacrificing for our service to others in schools is what we do every day. Like Isaac, we are constantly thinking about making the pathway to safety and success a safe one for our students. This is also true in our service to those whom we work with. Thanks to our Redding District family that stand together to make our community a better place through powerful learning opportunities at all of our schools.
If you are off this coming week, I wish you nothing short of a restful and rejuvenating time with family and friends. For those still working, enjoy the time completing work without others around. Just kidding, we will miss you all. See you all together again on the 18th.
Rob