By: Tristan Ascenzo

I experienced one of the worst injuries of my life four years ago on a camping trip. One hot spring day, my friends and I were fishing when suddenly two girls stole our fish bait. Without hesitation, we all started to chase them. First, we needed to gather our weapons! We ran straight to the forest and grabbed sticks. We chased them around our cabin at least five times before we got tired. Out of nowhere the girls got up and ran away with our bait for a second time! It was dangerous running with sticks, but to make matters worse the girls ran inside where it would be more likely for someone to be hit with a stick. KaPOw! I was knocked with a log on the back of my head. I blacked out and lost all consciousness. Everyone started to panic and didn’t know whether to take me to the hospital. The next thing I knew I was laying on my bed. Still feeling dizzy, I slowly got up while an ice pack was held to my head. My dad instructed me to walk to the door and back to see if I was okay. I was a bit wobbly, but all I needed was a little rest.

After a short nap, I felt re-energized and ready to play. It was late, so I took a shower and got ready for bed. That night we had hot dogs for dinner, and we grilled them on the spot. This was not the best camping trip for my dad, and you could tell he was over it. He didn’t enjoy sleeping on the floor, eating bad food, or being away from home, so he decided to leave the camping trip two days early. We packed up our stuff and planned to leave first thing in the morning. Since it was our last day, we had donuts and smores for dessert. When I was in bed I had a severe headache, which was probably from the lack of water and the injury. I felt a tapping on my shoulder, so I woke up. It was my friend Parker, who slept on the bunk above me. He pointed to the chip bag sitting on the table. I knew exactly what he was thinking!