By Emily Hernandez
In the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, where Adrian DelReal lived as an 8-year-old boy, he saw his own bone rip through his flesh, an injury of a lifetime to be sure.
In a small town named Tlaltenango, there was a little park that looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. DelReal thought it was a good idea to go play at the park, with its old and rusty playground equipment.
He played for about two hours, with his mother and aunt watching over him, sitting on a bench nearby. They made sure to keep a good eye on him, since the playground looked somewhat suspicious, due to its old condition.
DelReal kept his eye on the slide, he was fascinated but wasn’t sure about going on it. After a while, his mother and aunt left to go eat dinner, at a place that was right around the corner. DelReal thought it would be a good idea to stay behind and test out the slide he was eyeing this whole time.
He finally got over his concern and approached the old, rusty, and squeaky slide. It looked like an old 1900s structure. It had two poles on both sides to hold onto when coming down the slide. One of the poles, however, was broken, but, of course, DelReal didn’t see this problem, as he only viewed the slide from its top view. The broken pole had sharp edges and rust all around it.
When DelReal thought it was safe to go down the slide without being seen by his mother, he took advantage of the moment and just did it. But, he didn’t make it all the way down.
Once he was almost halfway down, his leg slipped out and got caught on the pole that was broken. He explained, “The pole ripped out a good chunk of my skin, where my bone was visible.” His skin was torn, from the side of his knee to the side of his calf.
He was then sent to the hospital, where doctors had to sew it back together with several stitches. “They had to give me various stitches since the wound was opened up pretty badly,” added DelReal.
He still has a scar on his right leg from where the incident happened. He also mentioned that if you apply enough pressure to his scar, it’ll sting.
As an eight-year-old boy, DelReal learned his lesson that day. He decided to listen to his mother and to focus on his surroundings.
Although it is common sense to not go on an old, rusty playground, DelReal still had the motivation to try it. He went through with it, even if it took a turn, it just proved how self-motivated he was at only 8 years old.
But, now if there’s a possibility he can get injured, he puts that self-motivation away, and by putting himself first so he can avoid other injuries.
From that day on, DelReal made sure to keep his legs on the slide at all times and to avoid old, rusty playgrounds