First Experience with...

the ambulance.

Sigh.

Today was quite the day. The Pirates were playing a great game against the Dodgers. A.J. got the assist in all three outs in the first inning (he was playing pitcher, and just gobbles up every ball he can reach. See the video from a few weeks ago.) He hit pretty well, and was having a great day. Except when he got doubled off second because the ball was caught while the boy stood on second, which means the infield fly rule should have been in effect, and therefore, he wasn't really out. Oh, well.

He got back up the next inning, ready to go again. He had made it to second, was on his way to third, and decided to slide because he saw the third baseman racing him to the bag. His slide was perfect, until he ran out of room, and hit the base hard enough to knock the helmet off his head. He arched back, grabbed his back, and collapsed to the ground. His coach, who was standing at third base and is a doctor, thought he had knocked the wind out of himself, by jarring his back when he hit the side of the base.

We made it back to the dugout, and since he had dirt all over his face and in his mouth, I was trying to get him to wash his mouth out with some water. I couldn't get him to talk to me, or hold himself up. Coach John and another dad who is also a doctor decided he looked awful and called 911.

Thankfully the firemen were just up from the ball fields having a training day. They took him and Aaron to Children's Hospital. I met them there after picking up all our stuff, with a lot of help from the dads. The team gave A.J. the game ball today, and all of the boys and coaches signed it. He knew that injured athletes are supposed to wave from the stretcher, so he waved with his game ball. Since the EMT's were worried about his back, they had completely immobilized him, cervical brace and all.

Fortunately, a friend of A.J.'s had a game immediately after ours. His mom was so thoughtful, and took Levi for us. Levi also likes this family a lot, and was completely willing to go with them, especially once they mentioned Burger King.

Once at the hospital, A.J. underwent a CT scan and an EKG, but once again, it all came back normal. We'll be calling the pediatrician once again, and see if we can start investigating again. Maybe we'll get some answers eventually, and maybe we won't. But, I'd sure like to know what's going on.

A.J. is fine now. He came home and played the Wii for a while, so he's feeling pretty good.

What a day.