Of some of the many things to do here, I had heard some pretty good things about paintball. I personally had never done it before, but again had always wanted to give it a go. It has all the elements of a good time: we get to play on teams, we get to run around an obstacle course, we get to shoot at people with real flying projectiles, what’s not to love. It’s like a Marine’s dream.
My colleague and buddy Mike had organized a paintball session afterschool. There were about 10 guys onboard, most which I had never met before. First of all when we got there I was pretty impressed by the facility. It was called Al Forsans sport resort, and they had a bunch of other things besides just paintball, like archery (something else I really want to do), go carts, gun range, etc. Really classy looking place to when you walk in, shiny marble floors with a real upscale hotel feel.
So we pay and suit up. We had to wait for the other guys to get there, but we didn’t have to wait too long. They pretty much had everything as far as gear that we needed: jumpsuit, helmet, marker (gun). They go over the rules with you and walk you down to the course. It’s a pretty cool set. The ground is all sand, there are metal barrels, bamboo fences, bamboo huts, tires, and so on. Tons of things to hide behind.
We played about a three games. The first two was basic elimination, try to pick of all the other teams guys. We first started out if you hit a guy at all and he has a paint mark on him you are out. The next few games we played you had to hit the guy in the chest or back for him to be out.
We only had so much ammunition left (you have to buy your paint balls) enough for maybe one game. The referees, and yes there were refs there that worked for the resort, took us to another course, one that had less cover to hide behind. This one seemed to have a Wild West theme.
As soon as we got going you could feel the pressure and lack of cover. The other team immediately had a better position on us and had like three of us pinned down behind a wall. That’s not good. I looked up a saw someone from the other team moving in on our left flank (side). If he were to get completely around there we are surrounded and its easy pickings from there. The only alternative was for me to move in that direction to stop his advance. I ran over to a wall, evading fire down range, and slid into cover behind a wall. I slid feet first with all of my momentum but my foot got caught in the sand. My body kept going, my foot didn’t, my ankle gave and snapped.
Funny thing when I think back about this, I just remember rolling over because of my momentum and looking up to see my foot facing in a direction it’s not supposed to. I didn’t think but reacted immediately. I remember before I had stopped rolling from my slide, while my feet were in the air, I reached up and turned my foot back facing forward. When I had stopped rolling, I was on my stomach with my legs bent and the soles of my feet facing the ceiling. I looked over my shoulder and my right foot seemed to be hanging pretty loosely but it was in its correct position. I called over the ref and told him I think I broke my ankle. He asked if I was sure, I said I was pretty sure. He actually went to my foot and held it a little. I started to move my toes, I was able to push back against his hand. I felt no pain. I thought maybe I just sprained it really bad (don’t think I thought that one all the way through, but I also think I wanted it to be just a bad sprain). By now some of the guys from both teams had come over to help. I got to my feet, or foot, not putting any weight on the other foot. I thought I could kind of limp to the sidelines on my own, again not sure what I was thinking. I didn’t plan on actually putting my full weight on my foot, just enough to test it. Not a good idea. Almost immediately my foot whipped back out almost facing the other way while my knee and the rest of my body is facing forward. That was the only time I cried out in pain. Once again without thinking I immediately reached down and snapped my foot back forward into place. The pain went away instantly.
The fellas helped my over to a bench and put my leg up. One of the guys seemed to have some type of medical experience. He thought I might have dislocated my ankle. He also told me that I tore some tendons on the inside of my ankles, whose job it once was keep my foot from turning 180 degrees around. Even as I sat there with my leg still propped straight out on the bench, my foot began to fall over. I asked for them to grab it to stop it from sliding, but I think they were in the “leave it alone so not to make it worse” frame of mind. I assured him that this is worse as the pain intensified the more my foot slid to the right, almost touching the bench. Once again (notice a trend) I reached down and straightened my foot back upright. The guy seemed fascinated saying my foot was back in joint, something I could already tell because it hurt a lot less.
The medic came in, apparently the resort has its own medical staff, and stabilized my foot with foam/plastic boards and wrap. I waited in their facility for a while them Mike and Big John, another one of the guys we played with, took me to the hospital. I had called Natova and she was already there when I got there. I went in for x-rays and saw that my first instincts were correct. I had indeed fractured my ankle. I also did tear those tendons the one paintball guy suggested. According to the doctor this is a fairly common injury, particularly with athletes. His suggestion is surgery to put in a screw and plate that I could take out later, after a year or so. After the surgery I would need to be in a cast for about 6 weeks. He suggested we get a couple of opinions, but that was his. More than likely others he believes will say the same. So we will look around and see what happens. They did put me in a temporary cast until the surgery.
So right now, I expect to have surgery in the coming days. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. Till next time.
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