Category: Blog: Community Safety Stories

It was his first time going snowboarding, and it happened to be New Year’s Day in Minnesota. My friend and I ventured out of town to have a fun holiday weekend. He started on the bunny hill as one would when it’s their first time. He made his way down the hill and almost immediately after picking up some speed, he fell, and his friend went down to meet him. “Ow!” he said, “something is definitely wrong.” He couldn’t move his leg, so the friend went to get the ski patrol. The friend ended up being taken to the hospital and found out he had broken his leg. He made a full recovery, and the day wasn’t anywhere short of life lessons one being to not attempt a winter sport on your own especially if you’re inexperienced. His friend later noticed that he was sunburnt, he had not been wearing any goggles to protect his face when he sat next to him. Wearing your goggles protects you from harmful UV light.  He later realized that he should have used sunscreen, worn a mask around his neck, and have something that covered his ears. The reflective snow can reach your face, where most skin cancers actually occur and so at the end of the day, one of us had a broken leg and the other a very bad sunburn. That day did not turn out how either of us thought when we went out to have some fun.

A family decided to go sledding at a nearby school. This was the main spot for sledding, with a great hill and a decent amount of room. It was close to their home, so they visited it frequently. The kids took multiple turns sledding down the hill and climbing back up. Other families took up room on the hill and some people raced by zooming down the hill. The father and one of the kids took their next turn down. This last run down, the parents wanted to go. As they made their way down, another family member did as well, quickly picking up speed and suddenly they lost control, running straight into the father’s knee. The collision resulted in a sprained knee. Thankfully, the crash did not hurt their heads, but no one was wearing a helmet. If the moment had been a little different, a child could have possibly got a bad head injury. That one moment made us realize we need to be more aware of our surroundings and how much control we really have. Getting outside is great, but it is important to remember winter sports safety.

I was talking with a friend and she asked me, “Did you hear about Bob (name changed)?”  I said no and asked what happened.  She went on to tell me that his story, the end of his life story, was in the news.  I could not believe it.  The story was clear-cut, concise and so short.  It did not tell how the gun had not been cleaned for a while.  It did not tell how they forgot to unload the bullet in the chamber.  It did not tell how he climbed into the back of the truck and went to grab the gun and it went off, accidentally.  It did not tell how they had to pick him up and put him into the back of the truck and drive to find the ambulance as they were so far out in the woods and the ambulance could not find them.  It did not tell of the terror of two people, alive in the truck, driving with someone in the back who had already passed away while they were driving.  It did not tell of the horror of living with the knowledge that a wonderful day went so drastically wrong, because a few simple gun safety steps were not followed.  It was an accident – simple – an accident.  One that may have been avoided.  To learn more about Gun Safety, you can register via Facebook (Safe Kids Missoula led by Foundation for Community Health).  The presentations are led by Danette Fadness and are titled:  Be SMART a Conversation About Gun Safety.  Please, from a person who knows that gun safety is so very important, please attend these presentations. 

On a family trip to Helena, Montana, a sudden winter storm hit. When the family reached the top of McDonald Pass with an elevation of around 4,000 feet, one of the kids wanted to pull over and get to experience a winter storm. So the family pulled over on a side road where there was 3 feet of snow on the ground and fiercely blowing snow. The child had never experienced weather such as this, and when the cold chill struck, they decided to get back in the car. Suddenly the dad noticed a truck that appeared to be stuck in the snow. The dad always said to be prepared and he even had a tote in his car that was something like the perfect homemade emergency road kit. So he opened the tote and inside of the tote there was a shovel, a few hand warmers, safety blankets and a 20 ft tow chain. The truck was so far off the road that the chance of many people noticing it was slim. The dad walked over, gave the men some hand warmers and talked to them. He eventually hooked the chain up to the front of the truck until the chain was tight. Suddenly, after a few tugs, the truck was pulled out back on the road and out of the ditch. It was likely that they could have been stuck for a long time. When traveling in the snow, try to drive during the day for safer road conditions and take it slow. Be aware of the traffic and road conditions before you hit the road and If an emergency happens it’s good to be prepared! Moral of this story: look into putting together a road safety tote of your own and always be prepared for changing weather conditions! This prepared father saved lives and helped that day because he was prepared.

There was a time in my life when I drove fast, did not wear a seatbelt, and thought that I knew best.  That was before I had been in 11 car crashes.  Before you say that I must be a bad driver, I have to say that I drive hundreds of miles a week for my job and there are deer, dogs, cats, cars, trucks, etc. that often are on the road and out of my control.  Not once have I hit another car or truck, but most are due to others hitting me or me hitting an animal.  Some were high speed and others were low.  Some were hard impacts and took out my vehicle and others were just small dents. Each was scary, each left an impression and each left me a little more with a fear of crashes.  The most recent crash was 2 years ago when my wife and I were rear-ended by a youth who was going way too fast on icy roads.  My wife was hurt, but my grandson was safe.  I could not help her and to see her suffer through surgery, physical therapy, and now living with pain each day, add to that fear.  That fear is what drives me to be safe, wear my seatbelt and be more mindful of weather conditions and my surroundings.  

10 days before her first birthday a little girl was singing and playing in a friend’s living room. A family friend was watching her because her parents were out of town. This living room was on the smaller side but had a gas fireplace at the center. Because of the cold weather, the fireplace had been turned on. The little girl suddenly tripped falling right towards the hot fireplace. She stuck her hands out on the glass fireplace door reacting to her tumble. Her tiny hands had touched the glass just long enough for a severe burn reaction. Once the parents were made aware, the little girl was rushed to the emergency room. Her hands were red, swollen and blisters started to appear and it became worse. They wrapped her tiny hands in bandages, and it became clear the importance that fireplace safety holds. Fireplaces are at an easily accessible height to kids and many fireplaces don’t have proper screens in place for protection. Kids around fireplaces come with their own set of dangerous possibilities. Even after the fireplace is turned off it still continues to stay hot. In fact, the glass surface of a gas fireplace can get up to between 500-1,000 degrees and that temperature can cause third-degree burns in less than a second. It would be beneficial to contact the manufacturer to get your own safety screen, further preventing your child or another child’s potential injury. This keeps everyone at a safer distance from possible accidents.