The Day I Broke My Ankle

The Day I broke my ankle Several years ago, I fell down the stairs and broke my ankle. I had never broken a bone before or been to the emergency room. It was a very scary and painful experience. I will never forget it and hope I never have another experience like it. This is how it happened. I went out the door of my house and was on my way to work. There is a walkway and a short stairway with four or five steps between my door and the sidewalk. I remember that I was wearing a new pair of shoes that day, and they had thick, soft rubber soles. They were a little softer and thicker than the shoes I usually wore, and walking in them felt a little bit strange. Just as I was beginning to step down the first step, the rubbery toe of one of my shoes stuck for a second on the walkway, and I lost my balance. I dropped straight down to the sidewalk from the top step, and landed with the full force of my weight on the side of my right foot. I finished the fall in a seated position on the bottom step. The fall had snapped and dislocated my ankle. My foot, still wearing the new shoe, dangled at a grotesque, unnatural angle from my now footless leg. The sight of it was nauseating, but the pain was even worse. Like everyone else, I have experienced a variety of physical pain in my life, but nothing that compared to this. This was not normal pain. This felt like a wall, like a sound I was hearing, like a new sense unrelated to feeling. I have no words to describe the pain. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before or since. After a few minutes and the shock of that terrible first wave of pain, I realized I needed help. Of course I could not stand or walk, and I didn’t see anybody around me. I called out for help, but nobody heard or responded. I was alone on a quiet side street with little traffic. Just then, I saw a car coming up the street. Thank God! Help was coming! An old man and woman were in the car. They parked, got out and ran over to me.