As a rule of thumb...

He has torn ligaments, strained muscles and even sprained an ankle – head held high, always able to say, “I’m 39 years old and never broken a bone” – those days are over with.

Monday was like any other day on patrol in Bossier City. Mark was cruising one of the neighborhoods greatly affected by the recent weather wrath – I can just picture him, window rolled down, chew in his left jaw, 98.9 playing on the good times radio. His police radio goes off – it is the U.S. Marshall’s office asking for police assistance. They had been staking out a parole violator at his residence and were following him – they needed a “marked unit” (police car with lights and sirens) to assist in taking down the felon.

Mark was first to arrive at their location – attempted to initiate a traffic stop – the felon was not interested in his attempt. Needless to say, a pursuit ensued. Not very “high speed” only ranging in the area of 70-80 mph – the felon led the BCPD and U.S. Marshall’s office in several directions before disabling his vehicle after taking a nose dive into a concrete ditch – the foot chase began.

Now, I’m not sure if you know this – but Mark is in darn good shape – he is a runner – he is quick (once we joined WK Health Center – our initial physical fitness test gauged him to be 18 years old, while they assumed that I was going to need a wheelchair – hard to explain on my part – after all he IS almost 10 years older than me – I hope he visits me in the nursing home) back on track…
Mark ran down the suspect – tackled him and all the while the felon will NOT cooperate. He resisted arrest over and over – even with the Captain and 2 others officers in the mix – getting the suspect handcuffed seemed near impossible – but in the end it was Good Guys – 1 / Bad Guys – 0, just the way we like it.

Mark complains of a sore hamstring and a “sprained” thumb. Refused medical attention and came home to be with his family. A family that is grateful that he was not seriously harmed or forced to cause serious harm to another – split second decisions can change a life forever – police families know that all too well.

Well 24 hours later the proof was in the swelling – well actually the suspicion was in the swelling – the proof was in the x-ray – broken thumb. His first broken bone. It is broken in the carpometacarpal joint. His hand is swollen beyond belief – I have never seen anything like it – which is not saying much, while I do work in the ER, most of my experience is with women’s health – not many swollen thumbs there and I’ll leave it at that.

I guess the lesson to be learned here – don’t brag about certain misfortunes that you have not yet to experience – it can happen to anyone at anytime – at least that is my rule of thumb.




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