Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted July 1, 2014 #1 Share Posted July 1, 2014 We just got back from our Freedom of the Seas trip. We left 6/22. That night the US was playing Portugal in the World Cup and we went to watch pool side. DS & DD(8) got in the pool, DW & older DD were on deck 12 in chairs, and I was sitting in the pool with the younger ones. DD stood on the underwater ledge and tried to backflip into the pool. I told her she almost completed the backflip, so of course she tries again (yes, bad move on my part). This time, she flips, but doesn't push off enough. Her head hit the ledge. I'm less than two steps from her and pull her up. I'm holding her and calming her down and she finally stops crying. A teenage boy comes over and tells me she's bleeding. Honestly, I hadn't seen it. We immediately get out of the pool and head to the pool bar. We get some napkins (I'm thinking it's just a cut). They call medical, and another passenger who's an ER nurse comes over to help. We finally see the gash on the top of her her head (she's got a lot of hair). We gather our family together as the nurse arrives. She takes us down to the medical facility where we wait for the doctors (they brought both of them in). DD needed a couple stitches under the skin and 6 stitches to her scalp. No pools for two days and no ocean for three. We had checkups on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. She was cleared to fully swim Thursday morning. The medical staff was wonderful to us. I can't find the discharge papers with the staff names, but they were always calm and did their best to keep DD calm also. Kudos to RCI! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattle66 Posted July 1, 2014 #2 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for sharing your story. Thankfully you were by the pool. It highlights why we should never leave our young ones unattended by the pool. It sounds like you had fabulous service by the RCI medical team. I am glad your DD is recovered well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillygirl777 Posted July 1, 2014 #3 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I hope your DD continues to feel better and glad there was such an attentive medical team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb at sea Posted July 1, 2014 #4 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Lesson learned! Back flips are dangerous from the side of the pool! Even on a diving board, accidents happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beautiful.thing Posted July 1, 2014 #5 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I'm sorry this happened to your daughter. Hopefully it didn't completely ruin the cruise for you all. We had to spend a few unfortunate hours in the medical facility on our recent April Freedom cruise and I couldn't have been more impressed with their professionalism. It took awhile to get medical assistance to arrive with a stretcher on scene but once we got to the medical facility I was very impressed by the "bedside" manner of both of the staff members that assisted us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrothermel Posted July 1, 2014 #6 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Wait.....did you steal this story from me?!?!?! We seriously had the EXACT same thing happen! (Just kidding about stealing it of course) My DS did a second backflip on Enchantment (because he wanted me to take a picture). I told him "I don't think that's a good idea", and he goes "I did one earlier". I'm like whatever, and grab the camera. Worst mother ever, I know! Anyway, he hit his head on the pool ledge. Guess what, SIX STITCHES! I'm going to post pics below, that's just too crazy ironic! LOL :D Glad to hear that I don't hold the "worst parent of the year" award alone :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted July 1, 2014 #7 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Glad it worked out as well as it did, it could have been much worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky616 Posted July 1, 2014 #8 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Glad she is doing better. People please no back flips. Scary to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BillOh Posted July 1, 2014 #9 Share Posted July 1, 2014 There are signs all over the pool areas saying no diving. Yes, a back flip is a form of diving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuggiebug Posted July 1, 2014 #10 Share Posted July 1, 2014 It could have turned out so differently! I am so happy for all of you that it turned out as described. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dupe1_åsa Posted July 1, 2014 #11 Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) So happy for all of you, and the crue are amazing. Edited July 1, 2014 by åsa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady_cruiser Posted July 1, 2014 #12 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Do school kids still do a "what I did this summer" report on the first day of school? If they do, I see two very interesting reports here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted July 1, 2014 #13 Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) Thanks for sharing. The medical staff was fantastic to me as well when I had a kidney stone on the Oasis a few years ago. It was the most pain I have ever had however the staff was wonderful in trying to keep me comfortable. (Of course the two full bags of morphine didn't hurt either :D). Edited July 1, 2014 by Yorkvillain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annicruise2014 Posted July 1, 2014 #14 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Yes, backflips may be a bad idea. But I'm sure all the olympic and stunt trickery that is done, have had more than a few bumps, bruises, stitches etc and their moms were right there rooting them on! LOL I am not one to talk because I'm the mom that can't watch, OK I do between fingers with hands covering my face, while dad is the one yelling go higher, do it again! The "bad" moms are the ones that are NOT THERE watching their kids while they get hurt LOL. I don't want any flack for my post, I'm just simply reasurring the OP and other moms know that they are good moms even tho there kiddos got hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP3o Posted July 1, 2014 #15 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Yep, I'm sure the OP just wants to focus on good medical care from RCCL and this thread not take a turn. I've heard more ships are having lifeguards now, not sure about RCCL but I'd like a lifeguard or worker stationed in that area to be saying "no flips or jumping" after the very first jump. There is a time and place for everything, including back flips, but, IMHO, it's not on a cruise ship in their pool. Too crowded and easy for injuries to the person flipping or someone else in the pool and head injuries can be scary things that don't always work out as well as did for the OP. Injuries aside, it's less comfortable for others in the pool if kids are jumping and flipping in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted July 1, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted July 1, 2014 There are signs all over the pool areas saying no diving. Yes, a back flip is a form of diving. No more so than "belly flops". :D Yep, I'm sure the OP just wants to focus on good medical care from RCCL and this thread not take a turn. I've heard more ships are having lifeguards now, not sure about RCCL but I'd like a lifeguard or worker stationed in that area to be saying "no flips or jumping" after the very first jump. There is a time and place for everything, including back flips, but, IMHO, it's not on a cruise ship in their pool. Too crowded and easy for injuries to the person flipping or someone else in the pool and head injuries can be scary things that don't always work out as well as did for the OP. Injuries aside, it's less comfortable for others in the pool if kids are jumping and flipping in. Believe me, DD won't be doing backflips into the water for a while. For the record, while the pool deck was crowded, the pool wasn't. There was maybe 5-6 kids in the pool. As far as pictures, DD didn't want any taken, although I did manage to snap one right after the stitches. I don't have any uploaded yet to show though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted July 1, 2014 #17 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for sharing your story. It could have been far worse. Hopefully your DD has learned a valuable lesson. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leisuretraveler223 Posted July 1, 2014 #18 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Lesson learned! Back flips are dangerous from the side of the pool! Even on a diving board, accidents happen. I'm so glad my mom is on cruisecritic! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizona Cruz Chic Posted July 1, 2014 #19 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Accidents happen, and it was a hard lesson learned. Glad it all turned out OK and that your daughter is OK. *** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_BJ Posted July 1, 2014 #20 Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) kids doing backflips off the side of the pool a lifeguard's nightmare [parents: do you allow this in your home pool????? I don't] bellyflop contest .... while it IS a bad example in light of NO DIVING .... we are talking adults (well, they are over 18 anyway) and there is a form of 'supervision' with the whole idea being NOT to go deep .... sidebar I was on the swim team in HS and in our pool the 'starting blocks' were in the shallow end - 3 to 4 feet ... common practice in the 70's. As competitive swimmers we knew 'racing starts' and diving into this depth was safe FOR US. I recently saw pictures of the HS taken during a reunion tour and I see the blocks have been moved to the DEEP END. A WISE move! I remember on the first night of lifesaving class a student who did not 'know' our pool climbed a block and dove in ... to the 4 feet of water ... and the dive was not a racing start dive (shallow) ... but a swan. Sadly they came up bloodied and missing several teeth. Luckily there was no neck or spinal damage . . . . Today it is recognized that diving into most pools is a BAD idea. Home pools are seldom built with diving boards anymore because of the recommended minimum depth and area required for SAFE diving. Hotels don't install diving boards today because of liability concerns ... Tell your kids ... no diving and ESPECIALLY no backflips .... PLEASE! {Sometimes pools ARE built with special diving areas ... typically with 10 to 12 foot depths .... these are 'safe' .....} p.s. I taught swimming for several years back in the 70's ... as a full time job ..... back then we taught diving as a part of basic swimming ..... a simple dive from the side of a pool ... a headfirst entry is that still done? (is RedCross still the primary force in basic water safety and if so is 'diving' still a skill?) oh .... I'm old . . . Edited July 1, 2014 by Capt_BJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacsmom Posted July 1, 2014 #21 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for sharing your story, it is nice to hear positive stories about the medical staff. We have all done things with our kids that we would change if we could go back in time, it is so easy for some to judge after the fact. Glad everything turned out fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisnpat Posted July 1, 2014 #22 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter, but am glad that she will be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewSalt Posted July 1, 2014 #23 Share Posted July 1, 2014 You left out the important part: did she lose any hair?:eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrothermel Posted July 1, 2014 #24 Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) I read the ironic story to my DS, and he wants to know if she got free ice cream. The crew gave him his choice of anything from Ben & Jerry's after the ordeal was done :D Did they end up charging you for the medical visit and stitches? Sent from my iPhone using Forums Edited July 1, 2014 by jmrothermel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare S.A.M.J.R. Posted July 1, 2014 Author #25 Share Posted July 1, 2014 You left out the important part: did she lose any hair?:eek:A small strip ~1/2" x 3". I read the ironic story to my DS, and he wants to know if she got free ice cream. The crew gave him his choice of anything from Ben & Jerry's after the ordeal was done :D No B&J's :( Did they end up charging you for the medical visit and stitches? Sent from my iPhone using Forums No! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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