So, I said that bad things come in 3’s and little were we to know that this day would test every ounce of our ability to cope. It had been a tumultuous day before in Melbourne missing our Spirit of Tasmania boat trip and we awoke to the uncertainty of whether we would be able to get the car fixed before our last chance to get on the boat.
In the morning as a little treat for the kids having done so well the day before I decided to make them hot chocolates so I boiled the jug. I had poured a small amount of water into their cups to melt the chocolate and at that point my absolute worst nightmare came true, Bruce had grabbed the kettle and pulled it onto himself. In a flash, I had him in the sink under cold running water, Col ran in as he was outside and called an ambulance.
It all happened so quickly and the ambulance were there within 10 minutes. We were taken to Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne where we were seen by some lovely staff who looked after Bruce. I just couldn’t believe it had happened to my poor little man, our hearts ached for him and I wished every second that I could take the pain from him. He suffered some severe burns to his left leg but luckily nowhere else. I cannot explain the immeasurable feeling of guilt and have cried myself to sleep reliving that split second over and over praying I could go back in time and have done things differently.
If there was a positive in this story it would have to be the wonderful people Denise and Keith from Discovery Parks Melbourne because when they found out what had happened they offered us a 3 bedroom cabin to stay in at no extra cost to support Bruce in his recovery and give us the space for my mum who flew down that day. They even bought the kids some toys, books, colouring pencils and paper knowing we were going to be house bound and a box of chocolates which were shared over many tears and cups of tea. They truly are just the most incredibly kind and generous people who went above and beyond to help us to which we are truly grateful.
Bruce coped so well with his injuries over the initial couple of days before his follow up appointment which was back at the Royal Children’s specialist outpatients burns clinic. Bruce was super brave but it was painful for him and painful for us. The doctor said he was confident his leg would be healed in 7 days which we were astonished to hear given it looked so nasty but was a big relief.
Given all that had happened we were questioning continuing or whether coming home would be best for everyone but we had a boat to catch and so many places yet to see. With that in mind we got in touch with Launceston Hospital to make sure they would be able to review Bruce’s wounds and dressings the following week and we made the nerve racking drive back to where it all started at Station Pier to the Spirit of Tasmania.
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