'Looking like she did 10 rounds with Tyson': Dad shares hair raising holiday mishaps

When we first published our How bad is the boo boo? we had no idea about the overwhelming response we'd receive from other parents with similar stories. 

Sharing the unforgettable tale of how his daughter Hannah had almost cracked her skull, one dad (we're calling him Mr Hamilton) spills the beans. 

"My wife and I live upcountry in the small town, Calvinia. Not much happens here, and it's about as exciting as watching paint dry on most days.

One can only watch so many movies or braai so many times before it becomes boring and you need to switch it up a bit. 

What we do is travel to Cape Town for a weekend and do the whole beach, wine tasting, McDonald's burgers, see-as-much-as-we-can kind of thing before heading back to boredom.

We then pick a small hotel or lodge and use it as a base of operations, just sleeping there at night, and that's it.

So one weekend, we book in at a lodge, and the little one loves the idea of being in a hotel away from home and was rather charged up as we had some fun activities planned. 

However, 5-year-olds and bouncy beds do not mix, and of course, the more you say 'don't jump on the bed' the more they do.

'The crack as her head hit the table rang through the room like a rifle shot'

Mom was busy, and I was just sitting down to relax a bit after the 500km drive while keeping an eye on our daughter and trying to get her to stop bouncing on the bed.

I'd lift her off, and she just scrambles back on. And then she swan dived, as in bounced straight up into a lovely swan dive, arms outstretched and wham, head-first at the coffee table! 

Before I could react and catch her, the crack as her head hit the table rang through the room like a rifle shot.

I lifted her up, looked and her whole forehead and bridge of her nose swelled up like a balloon and went blue.

Delayed reaction and shock meant that she only started crying once she saw us panic.

It didn't look good; in fact, it looked downright deadly.

'Hospital now!'

My wife and I shouted at each other. She took little one; I ran for the car, swung it round to collect her at the entrance to the lobby. 

If while reading this you recall a blue BMW with 'foreign' plates flying by in the yellow lines and skipping lights with hazards on and headlamps blazing, sorry.

It was an emergency; the prosecutor agreed! Anyway, we got to Panorama within 5-10 minutes and had her checked.

Some ice for the swelling and a sweety for the nerves, and a few minutes later she was ready to go. "Is nie meer seer nie pa, is orraait. Kan ons maar nou see toe gaan?" Kids are remarkably resilient little creatures!

Bruised nose and looking like she did 10 rounds with Tyson and she was still ready to get her feet wet.  

X-Rays and some shattered nerves later, the Dr came out and said we were lucky.

'Each time we go to Cape Town I age about 5 years due to stress'

It was a small crack, but nothing was broken. Because she loves milk, yoghurt and so on, it seems her bones were stronger than expected. All would be well.

Mom and dad would need calming pills for a week to recover, lol! 

She made a full recovery within 2 weeks. No swelling or marks or permanent damage. But, each time we go to Cape Town, she stays off the beds, and all coffee tables and any other kind of table is removed, and I age about 5 years due to stress. 

And, we now have a standing joke: Hannah goes through life head-first, the doctor said so!" 

N Hamilton

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