DISCLAIMER: This story is partially exaggerated and there
are both normal climbing stoke pictures as well as slightly unnerving medical
photography, proceed with caution.
After work on Friday, I was able to head up LCC and send
Gordon’s Hangover (unclean, sure but I was stoked). Saturday, plans were made…where
to now? Pentapitch, The Coffin, maybe hit up some other Wasatch classics. Also
where should we run? Let’s go up to Alta it’s supposed to be hot…Sounds great!
Top-roping the Coffin (5.9) several weeks prior (post clean
lead).
On Superior looking towards Alta, about to ski some summer
slush (last weekend).
The waterfall on Superior
All of this sounded great, I just had to go into work for
several hours that morning (reactions to run, etc, same old story).
I was seated at my bench top running a purification
experiment (silica column chromatography) and picked up a bottle of solvent (CH2Cl2)
near my feet. Unbeknownst to me, this bottle had a real sharp edge sticking out
of it (a test tube, now broken and sharp, which I had attached to hold a
permanent pipette); as it grazed up the side of my leg I felt an unfamiliar
sting. Forrest Gump would have perceived this extrinsic source of stimuli as a
bite but I knew better. As I looked down at my leg, hoping for the best, I saw
a large flap of skin simply hanging almost as if my insides had been taken out.
First thought, “Ok go get help”. Luckily at that very moment another one of my
grad student brethren had walked into the lab to harass me.
Him: Hey you piece of shit do you have….?
Me: I need help.
Him: Holy Shit! Anonymous grad student get in here.
Other anonymous grad student: You need to go to the hospital.
Me: I dunno it’s not bleeding too much I think I’ll be fine.
Them: No we can see your insides.
In reality it wasn’t that bad, however the cut was so deep
that there wasn’t much blood to be had. Thankfully I called Chesy, told her to
meet me at the E.R., and my labmate dropped me off at the hospital.
8 stiches total (see pictures below), they’re pretty good at
the U (University of Utah)
Pretty deep cut, you can see the fat cells. Probably about 3
inches long.
Angle #2: Pictures don’t do it justice or maybe I’m just not
as hard as our forefathers
Angle #3
So now I’m training for the Speedgoat 50K and climbing via a bottle of alcohol.
Reason #254 not to go into work on a Saturday (still came
back and finished that purification though).
In reality it was my fault, I knew the sharp piece of
glassware was attached to that container but was too lazy to remove it and
besides I usually throw my pipettes out anyway so the attached piece was
useless broken or not. Now, because of me, my lab has a mandatory pants policy
(which is probably for the best) but nonetheless…
