My Experience at St. John’s Hospital

From: Carson Leonard, Age 10

The first time I ever went to hospital was when I broke my arm. It was pretty scary because I was in a lot of pain, and I didn't know what to expect. I remember one of my classmates wrote a story about a boy who broke his arm riding his bike and only had to wait 5 minutes to get someone to be called to look after his arm. I, on the other hand, had to wait an hour or two to see a doctor. I broke my arm at noon, and had to wait five and a half hours before I had surgery to put in a plate to keep the bones in my arm together.

I was in a lot of pain but I didn't really notice it because it had been going on so long. I was pretty nervous. I didn't want to get a needle stuck into my hand so I got to breathe gas to put me to sleep. When I woke up I couldn't focus properly and my arm was in a very big sling. I had to spend the night in the hospital and it felt so weird. Having my mom stay with me helped me to feel more secure.

The second time round, a year later, I had to get the plate and screws taken out. I knew what to expect and I wasn't bothered at all. When I was wheeled off to go to surgery I was a little nervous and the cherry smelling gas mask helped, but the gas definitely smelled horrible.

When I woke up I couldn't focus on anything, and I was breathing some oxygen. Once I finally had fully regained consciousness I was able to go back to my Ward and leave later on that day. The people were very friendly and made me feel comfortable. The food was actually pretty good, despite the fact that I threw up because of the anaesthesia. That was actually the worst part of my hospital experience.

The Bones in My Arm - Before and After;
My Scar (After 2): Drawings by Carson Leonard

One thing that I didn't really like about breaking my arm was that I didn't get to keep the plate and screws that were in my arm after they were taken out.

I got a Hospital Play Bag and I think that having it at home helped my brothers because they've never been to hospital. The Hospital Play Bag helped them to see some of the things they have there and I got to tell them some

things I remembered about being at the hospital.

Bullies

From: Miss S Summerfield, Age 7

Do you understand that bullying is bad? Do you realise that it could be serious? If you were bullied were you pinched, pushed and beaten up? If you weren’t, then you were very lucky.

I was bullied once, but I wasn’t beaten up. I was told nasty things about my family but that was a long time ago. One day, the bully girl picked up a piece of my classroom plan and scrunched it up, but I think she thought it was a snip of paper lying around.

Once, my brother’s friend said to him: ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore’. But boys just go off and find somebody else to play with. But girls make a big fuss about it and sob themselves to sleep.

Not all bullies and big and ugly. They could just be an ordinary little boy or girl. Some people are bullies because they are upset about their family falling out.
If you get bullied, just leave the bully alone. The best person to sort it out is you. If the bullying gets worse, tell your teacher, she’ll sort it out.