Parents First injury

[TallaB]

My 6 yr old fell off the beam last night and got a supracondylar fracture. She's having surgery today to place pins and she will be out for 2 months...if she ever goes back. I know everything is still fresh in her mind and she's in pain, but she has stated multiple times she will not be going back to gymnastics. She's always been a more cautious kid and afraid of risk, so, I'm afraid she will actually refuse to go back and gymnastics has been soo good for her...well, until last night. I'm also struggling because she's SIX...do I want to encourage her in a sport she may face more injuries in?

 

[MuggleMom]

I would just stress to her she doesn't need to make any decisions now. Lets get healthy and then see where you are at, maybe you want to do gym, maybe just rec gym and another sport, maybe no more gym. All those are okay answers (especially at 6) but there is no need to make a decision now just focus on getting healthy. That may take the pressure off her and I often find when the pressure to decide is off they are more likely to consider giving it another shot. But if she decides no more gym thats ok too. There are so many sports opportunities available to kids these days and all of them offer benefits to kids!

 

[PeanutsMom]

When my daughter was 8 and a level 3 she knocked her 2 front teeth out on a missed leap on beam. One of those teeth was loose, the other was not. She also put her thumbnail into her chin as she caught the beam on the way down. She was bleeding profusely (something that really causes panic in her) and was hurting. She swore she would never do beam again. She is now a level 6 (rising 7) and doing great things on beam including beautiful leaps. The fright is real and the reactions visceral, so give it time. Kids are super resilient and she may or may not change her mind.

 

[CanadianDad]

My daughter was gearing up for her first competition season at 7 years old when she broke her arm learning back handspring. One of the older competitive girls had done the same thing a few years earlier and shared her pictures with us to show that it turned out alright. My daughter got her cast on the next day and was back training 3 days after the injury. She is now 9 years old and doing great in the Aspire program. Oddly enough, another girl had it happen this season and we were able to pay it forward to let her know that recovery happens quickly and you can still achieve great things. I guess my point is, maybe there have been other kids who have suffered injuries that can talk to your child about it. It really helped my daughter get over the mental hurdle.

 

[CuriousCate]

Good luck to your sweet girl with her surgery!

 

[GreggP]

I hope the procedure went well! It is probably too soon to start talking about gymnastics. At this point, it sounds like she is coming from a place of fear. Almost like ptsd. Scared of getting hurt again, failing, embarrassing herself…could be a number of things. Best thing you can do as the parent right now is build her up. The priority is for her mental and emotional strength to remain intact. Express how proud you are of her courage, and how brave she is to go through this. Even how brave she was to step up on that beam in the first place! Encourage her to stay confident, strong, and look for the good in all this. Take small steps and then see what her perspective is after a couple of weeks. If she is wanting to comeback, but still fearful, that is another topic. But, if she is done, there are a lot of great sports and other activities out there. Wish all the best!

 

[Mrsboots87]

Of course everything had to close right after this happens. Ugh. At least it should give your daughter some time to think. My 10 year old broke her left proximal humerus on a bad tap swing dismount from high bar last December. She gripped the bar instead of tapping and it flung her out and into a mat at the perfect angle. Kind of a freak accident.

For a week she said she was never going back to gym because that’s where you go to break bones. She came with me to little sisters developmental practice and watching the other girls training got her back into wanting to return. Then a couple days later her bars coach had her come out during what would have been her teams time and help check girls off on routines and just sit and be part of the team. Her whole team supported her and asked her when she was coming back. She told me that night she wanted to get back to gym.

Just give her some time. Unfortunately fractures are relatively common in this sport. Hopefully if she loves it, she will realize she can heal and get back to it.