We were away this weekend in Ballycastle visiting the folks up there.
Saturday evening was beautiful, so we decided to go for a walk. The weather was warm, but there was a gentle breeze keeping us cool. Rachel and Jake came along on their scooters, riding a bit too fast for comfort (since I was the one trying to keep up with them)!
We ended up in a local playground near the beach and spent a relaxing hour playing with the children on the swings, slides and climbing frames. As the sun started to descend and the air became cooler, we decided to head back up to my parents’ house where we were staying.
So, the two scooter kids shot off and I lumbered along in pursuit. The pair stopped at the end of a row of houses and loitered for a minute while I caught up. Running down the side of the houses was a steep hill, which son and daughter were contemplating from their scooters.
Rachel did a little test with her scooter, going a little bit down the hill and then pulling toward the verge to stop. I thought she’d realised how steep the hill was and had decided against scooting down it. Wrong…
After a couple of seconds, she shot off down the hill. I couldn’t believe my eyes and shouted at her to stop. (Great idea, she was already out of control, how could she stop?) A car was parked near the bottom of the hill with the driver’s door wide open. Rachel was heading straight for it. I was pounding down the hill as fast as my legs would carry me, no hope of catching her now, just to pick up the pieces at the bottom.
Rachel managed to avoid the car door, but the road came to a bend at the bottom and she couldn’t follow it at that speed. Her only option was to either crash into the hedge or attempt to skid to a stop. She chose the skid.
For a moment, it looked like she was going to make it, but a patch of rough ground caused the scooter to fall abruptly and she was thrown off, landing hard on her knees and then smashing her face off the ground. I was beside her within seconds prising her gingerly off the ground, trying to asses the damage and comforting her and berating her in the same breath. Her mouth and nose were bleeding and she was pebbledashed with small stones which I gently wiped away. Her knees were grazed and bleeding too and she was scared and badly shaken from the ordeal.
Jake appeared a minute or two later, offering to take Rachel’s scooter back up the hill, and I carried the patient back to the top, still incredulous at what I’d just seen. As I was going up the hill, I noticed a car had stopped and the passengers staring at us. I inwardly cursed them for sitting there watching our misfortune when the driver got out and came across the road with a first aid box. He explained that he works for the local coastguard and proceeded to clean Rachel’s knees and patch her up. When he finished, we thanked him profusely (and I felt bad about my snap judgement).
Epilogue
Rachel then refusing to walk (too sore), I ended up carrying her all the way back to her Grandparents’ house. When we got back, I laid her down on the sofa to rest. Guess what? Within five minutes she was up and running around again as if nothing had happened!
Still, the sight of a child hurtling down a hill and crashing at the bottom is never pleasant. Rachel’s got a few minor cuts to her face, but it could have been so much worse - we were expecting broken bones.