[rsox34]

I was officiating a boys game a few Summers ago on Fathers Day when I got badly injured. The Facility has three courts that are adjacent to each other (side-by-side.) I'm in the middle court. Next to my court is a girls varsity game. I'm transitioning from trail to new lead (two man) and looking back at the pack. All of a sudden, a big girl throws a ball in my direction, missing the intended receiver. The ball hits me in the right temple/facial area. I start to fall to the floor and get clipped by the intended receiver who was chasing the errant pass. I try to brace my fall with my dominant left arm. I believed I separated my shoulder and had facial injuries, but finish the half. Luckily my replacement shows up early and I have him replace me at the half, so I could go to the nearest hospital ER. I drove myself to the ER. I found out I had several facial/orbital fractures and a compression fracture of my left elbow. In addition, the ENT who saw me about my face commented that I should have my deviated septum surgically fixed after my facial/orbital fractures healed/popped back into place.

I was done offficiating for the rest of that summer. I had to wear a arm length splint wrapped with ace bandages the rest of the summer. My face turned many colors, but eventually the bones popped back into place. I could not blow my nose or sneeze for a while--when I did, my face with puff out as I blew air through my nose. It was freaky.