3 Reed Girls: June 2014

First Spring Fling without Neil. GG & Dooda came to cheer! 2013

I've been in the sport of gymnastics for over 30 years and I feel like I know the safety rules pretty well. Only one person on the trampoline at a time, never go under a trampoline, don't let a preschooler jump from a mat that's higher than their knees, keep the bars at shoulder height or lower for younger athletes, don't wear jeans or belts, especially on bars. Keep your hair pulled back. And no jewelry.

I have a confession on that last one. I wear a little jewelry while I coach. Nothing big that can poke or scratch a kid, my wedding band (which I NEVER take off) and usually a small necklace. I remember a necklace pendant hit me in the tooth as a teenager while doing a flip on the trampoline, and OUCH! And I always thought the 'no rings on fingers' rule was to protect the wooden bars. And to be honest, I've demonstrated pull overs and tap swings with my wedding band on one hand and my grandfathers ring on the other for over 10 years and the worst that's happened is a few extra blisters where the ring rubbed my already calloused hand. That is, until last Friday.

I wasn't dressed to coach because Marley and I were leaving early to go to a play. I was helping with a few skills and when the team rotated to bars, I went with them. We now have Level 4's on team and have been adjusting the bars to different heights to work different skills. I noticed one set of bars was a little high for the group working kips, so I lowered the low bar. This in turn, made the high bar look too far away for them to jump to, so they asked if I'd lower that, too. Sure, no problem. I loosened the cables for the second time and turned the knobs. I pulled the pin to lower the bar and it didn't drop. I climbed on the spotting block next to one of our teen athletes and grabbed the wood bar and hung on it to get it to drop down, something we've done many times with this old set of bars. The bar dropped and I felt something jerk my right hand and knew it wasn't good. I went to the bathroom quickly and quietly, trying not to draw attention to myself. A mom popped in to ask if I was ok, and I told her to get Alyssa, my office manager. Alyssa came in and I showed her what happened and told her that I thought I needed to go to the emergency room to get my ring cut off and some stitches.

In the ER before the doctor came in.

You might want to stop scrolling down now, if you have a weak stomach. It's pretty gnarly!

Seven stitches later and my grandfather's ring cut off and I'm lucky to have my finger still attached. So for all your teen gymnasts who moan and groan when you tell them to take off their jewelry, you can show them this. And remind them that I wasn't even swinging on the bars.