When I was younger my best friend in the world was my next door neighbour. Her name was Jasmine and she was the daughter of our family doctor.
Before starting kindergarten we were supposed to get immunization needles. I’m still not sure what those are for because I still came down with chicken pox and the mumps in grade school but those are other stories for other times.
Jasmine’s father was the one who was going to be giving us the shots and we were notified of this event perhaps a week ahead of time, lots of time to ready ones self mentally and I needed 95% of that time because I was terrified of needles for one reason or another.
I believe I was scared of needles because I had a dentist who ALWAYS found cavities when me and my sisters went for our bi-yearly visit’s. With cavities comes needles, sometimes as many as 3 or 4 (needles) because she had ’missed’ the correct spot to inject it. Have you ever had a needle in the bridge of your mouth? I have.
When I was 16 my dentist died and I haven’t had a cavity since, imagine that.
As such, I never quiet enjoyed those tiny pricks and I was 100% terrified of something called an ‘immunization needle’.
Luckily my best friend was the daughter of a doctor and she spent the entire week comforting me and reassuring me that the needle was nothing to be afraid of and by the end of the week I believed her.
On needle day I went over to her house and her Dad got set up to give us the needles in their kitchen, I was going to be the first victim. He knew that I was somewhat timid regarding the whole ordeal and he told me to just take a big breath that it would be over before I knew it.
He was right.
I turned my head as he was about to inject me, felt a tiny pinch and then asked him when he was going to do it. He said it was done.
Wow, that was so not the feeling I had at the dentist’s office, I barely felt it at all and kinda felt stupid that I spent the entire week fretting over something that turned out to be nothing at all.
Jasmine however was next and the cool confidence that she showed all week was gone when it was her turn. I’m not sure if it was the sight of seeing the needle protrude into my arm or what but being the daughter of a doctor didn’t prepare her for this moment and she flipped.
Can you flip without freaking out? I’m not sure, but if you can she wasn’t able to separate the two and she lost it. She ran out of her house and tore through the neighbourhood with speed that would make a baby elk seem slow.
Which led to both family’s (her’s and mine) along with other’s neighbourhood being thrown into seek and capture mode as this five year old girl had absolutely no plans of letting that or any needle touch her skin and had it in her mind that she would do anything and everything in her power to evade such violations.
My older sister was the ‘lucky’ soul who finally managed coral Jasmine in on the far side of our house. I say lucky because for her efforts she still has the teeth marks in her arm 25 years later where a five year old girl tried to make one last gasp for freedom.
Of course Jasmine turned out to be an absolute wonderful woman and one of the smartest people I know but she will never live down the time she tried to eat my sister’s arm in the pursuit of freedom.