Eitan Friedman

Ronny and the Ski Accident Eitan Friedman

The orthopedic surgeon, the doctor responsible for all the people who had broken bones that day, came to see me. The orthopedist looked at the results of the X-ray on the computer and at the rest of the tests they'd run on me and said, "The shin bone is fractured. Since there has been no movement, it will not be necessary to operate, but he will need to be in a cast for at least four weeks. Maybe even six weeks." He just blurted that out without looking at me or Mom or Dad and without even thinking that six weeks in a cast leaves me only two weeks without a cast. "Dad, Sasha, the championship!" Eleven-year-old Ronny Smith, member of the children's ski team, was planning to win the Utah Statewide Junior Ski Championship. An unexpected ski accident disrupts his plans. Ronny fractures his shin bone. What is a bone? What is a fracture? Does it hurt? What do you see in an X-ray? What is the orthopedic surgeon's job? Will the broken leg prevent Ronny from winning the skiing championship?