Broken Wrist

One of the most terrible, unfortunate and definitely painful incident happened just two weeks before my Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). I remember it as clear as day, even though it was a Tuesday evening. I was attending my mathematics tuition class at a centre near my house. My classroom also had projector attached to the ceiling just like the ones you see in government aided schools in Singapore. As it turned out, I was sitting beneath the projector. My teacher, Mrs. Fang, wanted to use the projector to show us a video on drawing triangles. I had to climb onto my table to switch on the projector. The tuition centre was not exactly brand new, and the table was a bit rocky. As I stood up on the table, the unexpected happened so abruptly. The rocky table somehow gave way and I fell headfirst onto the cold, hard tiled floor. The first thing I felt was a throbbing pain in my torso and head, followed by a sharp pain in my left wrist. I was lifted up by my teacher and my classmates. The moment I stood up, the pain in my wrist intensified even more. It felt limp and I could not even move my fingers, if I did, a sharp and excruciating pain would course through my whole arm. At that moment, I knew I had more than just a bad fall. My teacher seemed to notice it too. She called my parents to tell them what had happened. She managed to buy me a triangular bandage from a clinic nearby. She bound my arm tightly so as to prepare me for my parents to pick me up. My parents rushed me to the Mount Alvernia Hospital, where I was met by my mother’s good friend who was also an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital. I had to wait for an hour before I was ready for surgery. The orthopedic surgeon Dr. Wong decided to put my bones in place and he also had to put in a metal pin to secure my bones as I had to take my PSLE in two weeks’ time and I had broken my writing hand. In my ward, I changed into a hospital gown. Then, I lay upon a trolley, and I was wheeled to the operating theatre. The surgeon made me breathe the anaesthesia using a mask. It felt like I had only been asleep for five seconds but when I woke up it was already morning. Golden rays of sunlight bursts through the windows at my ward. I had to wear a cast for three weeks and a wrist support for another six weeks. During my PSLE, I had time extensions and I am glad to say did pretty well. I hope I will never have to go through such a thing ever again.