Ok, I waited until everyone was signed off for the night before posting this. Hopefully it will be buried by morning.
When I was about 13 my dad decided to take us fishing. I hated going fishing with him because we always went to a place where there wasn't a good beach to play on. We always went to the Skyway Bridge which is a huge bridge that crosses Tampa Bay.
I goofed around for a while before I got so bored I could hardly stand it. I decided to see if I could catch the smallest fish. I got a rod and reel and proceeded to climb up the braces under the bridge. I climbed as high as I could get. The water was so clear that I could just look down and the the fish I wanted to catch and drop the hook straight down. I was balancing on a little concrete ledge. After a few tries, I managed to catch a teeny tiny black sea bass. I was so proud of my little fish!
I held the rod in one hand and the fish in the other. I yelled to my family below, "Look what I caught!!". It was at that moment that I overbalanced and went face first over the edge. I remember that fall being in slow motion. I saw the look of shock on my mom's face. My uncle's eyes had to be about to pop out of his head as he started running in my direction. I looked to the right where my dad was sitting with his back to me just in time to see him stand a spin around. I remember thinking that if I lived, he was going to kill me.
I watched the mix of rocks and water come closer. I tried to decide where I should try to land. I chose rocks covered with a shallow layer of water because I didn't want to land on a shark (I was afraid of sharks). I placed my hands in front of me and landed in a perfect push up position. I took a second to evaluate whether I was still alive or not, decided I was alive, and then collapsed with my face in the water. My uncle was there by then a pulled me to my feet. It was then that I realized I still had the rod in my hand and the fish was still on the line. The only words I could muster were, "Look, a fish.".
It took a few minutes before the adrenaline wore off and I could assess the damage to my body. My foot was purple and getting bigger by the minute. I had some minor cuts on my hands and scrapes on my legs. After my dad finished fishing
, he figured I would live a bit longer, we left for the hospital.
I limped into the ER with my mother. A nurse looked up and greeted me by name. She asked what I had done this time. My lovely, tactful mother loudly announced to the world that I had jumped off the Skyway Bridge. The staff and everyone in the waiting room stared at me for a minute and the roared with laughter. As a 13 year old girl, I was horrified! The docs teased me, the nurses teased me, and even the radiologist teased me.
It turns out nothing was broken but I had torn the ligaments in my foot. I was on crutches for a couple of weeks and I had pain for a couple of years after that. I didn't need any stitches for the cuts.
This turned out to be a bit longer than I had planned so hopefully most will pass it over. I'm sure I'll regret telling this story when I wake up.
