How NOT to end your summer vacation

8:00 p.m., Labor Day. 12 hours till the start of the new school year. You've survived bike crashes, summer camp, climbing trees, and all the other challenges and situations that an adventurous 12 year old can find himself in over the course of a whole summer. What gets you in the end is a simple game of badminton with your dad, and a hole that some varmint dug in the back yard of friends from church.

It was our very last volley of the game, and then we were going to be leaving the party. I hit the last shot towards JR on the other side, and turned to start back and get our stuff. I heard a blood-curdling scream from JR, who was laid out on the ground in agony. When I got to him, I couldn't believe my eyes. His kneecap was totally over on the outside part of his leg. It just looked so bizarre, I wasn't sure exactly what I was seeing.

Our friend called 911, and probably within about 5 minutes the ambulance showed up. The EMT was able to straighten his leg and get the kneecap back in place. As soon as he did that, the pain lessened quite a bit, and he started breathing easier. They said he should get an x-ray, to make sure nothing was broken and that the ligaments and tendons were ok. We decided to let him ride in the ambulance; which turned out to be a good idea, because he got in, taken care of, and was out the door in no time. If we had driven him we would probably still be sitting in the waiting room with all the other people who were there.

He is going to have to wear a leg immobilizer for about a week; at least until he gets checked out again by an orthopedist. Not exactly the way he'd want to start the new year at school. Hopefully his buddies will cut him some slack.