We left home at 2:15 to meet the team going to the new church plant in Nueva Concepcion. We normally take the bus from Vida Nueva, but it is being repaired. So, Jose Benitz drove the blue van and we took our pickup (4 people in the cab and 4 in the truck bed.) We arrived Nueva Concepcion about 4:00 p.m. Stephen has been going to the local park and playing basketball with a group of older boys from the neighborhood. He took his basketball and headed to the park about 4:10. I was helping set up the children's classroom when Pablo came to find me and said Stephen was hurt. I got in the truck with Pablo and Kenneth and Jona jumped in the back. At the park, Stephen was sitting up but was very pale. The basketball/soccer court has about a 4 inch step down all the way around it. He was chasing down the basket ball and didn't notice the step down. His ankle slipped off the edge and he fell down and rolled. From what they describe, he sat up and grabbed his ankle and then shortly thereafter passed out and hit his head on the concrete.
We helped him in to the truck and brought him back to the church. They "rigged up" a hammock for him to lay in and elevate his ankle. Diego went for gatorade and Kevin went in search of ice. He was pretty out of it, but he did know what day it was, who the president was (he said Mickey Mouse) and where he was. We were trying to decide if he should go to the hospital and get an x-ray or wait until morning. Jorge called Dr. Contreras (our pastor's brother) and asked his opinion. He recommended that we proceed to the hospital and have his head and his ankle checked. Of course, Stephen couldn't walk, let alone drive and, even though, I know how to drive a stick, I haven't practiced driving our big pickup. It is about an hour back to San Salvador and then, of course, neither one of us knew the way to the hospital. Carolina, one of our great translators, drove the truck for us. We made it to the hospital about 7:30. They were able to get him right in and take him upstairs for x-rays (ankle and head) within half an hour. Praise the Lord nothing is broken. All of the pain in his ankle is soft tissue damage. They immobilized it and told him to stay completely off of it for 3 days; limited use for 2 weeks (no driving.) I paid the bill ($80) and we took his prescriptions and headed home.
We were about 5 minutes from the hospital sitting at a red light when a small van rear-ended us. Stephen almost jumped out of the truck to see the damage, but I convinced him to stay inside for a bit. It didn't look bad, so we just exchanged information and headed home.
We're now at home, he's on the couch and Carolina is spending the night with us. The two of us will make our way to the pharmacy in the morning and then her dad will come pick her up.
Please pray for Stephen's injury to heal quickly--we are supposed to leave for Managua next Saturday. Please pray for me as I will now be the one driving the truck all over town and probably will go to school by myself next week.
We are so thankful for great friends who helped us tonight and are praying here in El Salvador. Thank you for joining us in prayer wherever you are.
I will update everyone in a few days.
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