I Fell On My Son
He wasn’t hurt, but it scared me
Some of the earliest symptoms of Huntington’s disease are related to mobility and movement.
- Unsteady walking
- Dropping objects
- Falling
Last week I was carrying my son on my shoulders. He’s not quite 5-years-old yet, but he’s already over 50 lbs (23 kg), so he’s no lightweight.
As I was bending down at the knees to allow him to slide off my back to his feet, I lost my balance and fell to the left side. His foot was caught between the floor and my butt leaving an imprint from the seam in my jeans pocket on the top of his bare foot.
He cried a real cry, not a 4-year-old, I’m tired kind of a cry. The kind of cry that had my wife running down the hall to see what the hell happened, fearing he was hurt badly.
Thankfully, he wasn’t. I think he was more frightened by the experience than hurt. And so was I, quite frankly. That could have easily been much worse if the weight of my body had landed on his little leg rather than the top of his foot.
Damnit!
Even though logically I know this was just an accident, It’s episodes like this that make me worry Huntington’s disease is beginning to take some control of me. Maybe without me having any knowledge of it.
What, I can’t even give my kid a piggyback anymore because I might fall?
How do I battle these fears and while trying to live my normal life?
Steven Beatty is a writer and registered nurse. He lives in Central Ontario, Canada with his wife and two fantastic kids. He’s on Facebook and Twitter @stevenbeatty. Steve is the author of the book In-Between Years: Life after a positive Huntington’s disease test, a columnist at Gene Positive on Huntington’s Disease News, and a blogger here on Medium.
