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| Looks like the fish won this battle. |
You don't think of fishing as an injury type of sport. But, in 2015 we had two of the most bizarre injuries I have ever hear of.
The first involved my son, Jon. When the phone rang at midnight back in October, I knew this couldn't be good. It was Jon reporting that he had a hook in his NOSE. His explanation was that he hooked and reeled in a striper from a rock he was standing on. As he went to lift the schoolie upwards, the fish fell off and like a projectile the Yozuri plug went flying in the darkness toward his face with the rear treble striking his face and embedding itself in his nose. He ended up in the South County Hospital emergency room where it took the doctor close to an hour to dig it out while repeatedly exclaiming, "I can't freakin' believe this." Jon recovered, and we even got the plug back (minus the rear treble)!
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For two months the tip of a
spine from a striper's fin
was embedded
in my thumb until it was
recently cut out. |
The second freak accident involved me. Back in late October I landed a schoolie one evening. When I tried to get the hook out, the fish thrashed sending a spine from its dorsal fin right into my thumb. Well, no big deal. The minor puncture wound bled a bit, but I was back to fishing almost immediately. After about a month I noticed some redness and soreness in the same spot where the fish's spine entered my thumb. After a few more weeks, I have an infection developing with a lot of soreness. Puss started oozing from the infection. I am now getting worried so I go and see my dermatologist who can deal with ANYTHING. He takes a look at it and notices a grayish mass in the infection. He thinks I have something embedded in the thumb and decides to cut it open to find out. Soon, he exclaims, "I got it." He shows me a small pointed piece of cartilage from the tip of the fish's fin that had been in my thumb for 2 MONTHS. He told me he has taken lots of foreign objects out of his patients' bodies but a tip of a fish's fin was a first for him.
One of my resolutions for this year for me and the kids.....remain injury free!
