Living with two broken wrists

Breaking both of your wrists really puts the importance of hands and arms in perspective. Earlier this summer during a lacrosse tournament in Kansas City, I broke both of my wrists in the third game of the day. I threw an awkward check on an opposing player which caused both of my wrists to bend backwards. I fell to the ground and both of my hands immediately went numb and started swelling. I got an X-Ray three days later confirming my worst fears: both of my wrists were broken. I had to wear braces on my wrists for 8 weeks, inhibiting me from doing most things that require lifting, holding, or arm strength in general. One thing that immediately jumped out to me as a problematic task was tying my shoes. I could not get a correct grip on the laces, and every time I did, I would pull too hard, causing pain in my wrists. For the first time since elementary school, my dad was tying my shoes. Another large problem I encountered was that I couldn’t type on a keyboard or write with a pen. Both activities are ones I do daily, and not being able to do these things brought up some interesting scenarios. What, if for instance, I had broken my wrists during the school year instead of the middle of summer? Would I not be able to take notes? Write papers? Do homework? How would I complete these things without the ability to write or type?

This type of injury can bring up a whole other array of problems for adults who work jobs that require physical labor. First, driving with my wrist braces on was a difficult thing to learn and adapt to. It took time to feel comfortable driving with the wrist braces on. Doing a job requiring arm strength or physical labor would be almost impossible with broken wrists, and if the worker wasn’t injured on the worksite, they may not be able to apply for workers compensation.

The world that we live in today is not very easily accessible to people who have arm injuries or disabilities. We must make it an important objective to make the world more accessible for these people. Without a world more accessible for people without normal arm function, it is hard for them to live their lives as usual. I never imagined that breaking my wrists would put so much in perspective. It is essential that we as a people make our world more accessible to everyone so everyone has the opportunity to pursue their own lives.