Our valuable player wasn't just Eve N. Meaner, she was Eve N. broke! Poor Eve broke her leg during practice. This story was written by Eve N. Meaner herself. Thank you so much Eve. We send you our love and healing vibes!!!
It was just a few minutes before the end of a great practice.
Just one or two more drills before our next game. I was hit to the
outside and was just trying to figure out the best way to stop and turn.
I was already turning to the right but I think muscle memory had me
attempting a tomahawk stop and turn to the left. Clearly those two instincts
do not belong together.
Trust me, putting your right toe stop down,
trying to turn to the left, all while off balance and falling backwards makes
for a hazardous combination. I never heard a crack or a pop but I did
think, "My leg's not supposed to bend that way," in a bit of a South
Park voice. I kid you not, that's the way I spoke to myself internally.
Before long I started dropping the F-bomb, repeatedly. I hate
needles, so the EMTs sprayed something up my nose and away we went on an excruciating
ambulance ride. I learned to manage pain with breathing techniques during the
birth of my three kids. Don't get me wrong. When ER staff had
to put in an IV anyway, morphine was my friend.
My husband and son got to watch as they put me into a semi-sleep for the reduction,
the pull and straighten portion of the evening. I don't remember anything
but apparently the F-bombs were revisited, I thought one of the pain creators
was enjoying his job a bit too much and...felt, "I am strong. I am
invincible." My son wrote that one down.
I had surgery the next morning and have been improving ever since
the last use of a bed pan.
The first and only time I cried was when I said to Mae Z. Dukes,
an ER tech. by day who visited early the first morning, that I just wanted to
finish out this last season, retire #47 on a high note and help out with Fresh
Meat or however I can next year. I'm going to miss hitting and getting
hit by these ladies more than anyone not involved in derby can ever know.
Everyone on the team was incredible, holding my leg steady, gathering my
things, giving me space to focus on my breathing, preserving my gear as much as
possible, contacting my family and driving my car to the hospital. Visits
and messages have been so supportive and I think, every day, how lucky I am to
have such an incredible extended family.
Derby <3
Eve N. Meaner
#47
You can like Eve N. Meaner's Face book page here.
