One of the aspects of the Jungle Camp program is the isolation living in the bush. For the most part, we were isolated from the outside world. But when emergencies came up, all of that ended. On two occasions we found ourselves in the emergency room with our 17 month old, Chesley. The first time was just a week into Jungle Camp when he pulled a steaming cup of coffee off the table onto himself.
The second time was just a few days before Jungle Camp was over. Chesley was playing outside for a few minutes when we found him eating some mystery red berries. No one knew if they were poisonous and we had no idea how many Chesley had swallowed. Off to the emergency room we went again. At the hospital the story didn’t change much. Again, no one knew what kind of berries they were either so we waited to see if Chesley had a reaction to them. In the end, he was fine. We did finally find out that the mystery berries were actually baneberries. Karl wrote more about them in a previous post.
Both times we rushed to the hospital our hearts were racing. Anyone who has rushed their own kid to the emergency room knows what I mean. There’s a part of you that wants to panic and scream for help.Thankfully, Chesley is now 5 years old and has yet to make another visit!
Tags: jungle camp, thoughts
