To Bail or Not To Bail

 It was a cold day in January of 2017. That day, there was a lot of snow on the ground. My aunt and cousin were visiting from Texas. My mother and aunt were off shopping in town. My brother, cousin, and I decided to go sledding. 

Our front yard is long and pretty steep. The snow had a layer of ice on it and we were using new sleds. I did not know how to steer it properly yet. I started to go down the hill and I gained a lot of speed. My sled was pointing right at a tree. I was so scared not knowing what to do. I decided to close my eyes and hope for the best. I felt nothing at first but in about three seconds my foot was in serious pain. I cried all the way back up the hill. Instead of immediately taking me to the doctor my dad decided to let me stay home, if it still hurt the next day he would have me get an x-ray. The next day it still hurt to step on so we went to the doctor to have xrays. I had fractured my foot in two places! 

Now that I think about it, I should have bailed out of the sled instead of freezing up like I did. The consequences of closing my eyes and staying in my sled were much worse then rolling out, I think. The possibility of a few bumps and scrapes are much better than being in a cast for weeks. After a while it started to itch and smell. I would have to have help from people with almost everything. It was a pain.
Needless to say, after that I learned quickly how to steer the sled and how to bail out of one safely. I would not recommend closing your eyes and hoping for the best!