Would you be annoyed if your son’s broken arm was downplayed? By his dad

[TheOpalFox]

Would you be annoyed if your 16 year old son broke his arm at his dads???? Yet his dad downplayed it as he’s badly bruised it and he’s not sitting at the hospital all night anyway!!! Soooo annoyed!! I took him straight to hospital and he’s broke it !!!

I’d remember the time my mum stuck a packet of peas on my sisters knee and told her it would be fine, only take her to hospital 4 days later when the peas hadn’t worked their magic to find out her kneecap was broken in 3 places.

These things happen.

I don’t think there is enough detail to know properly. If it was a obvious open fracture then of course your not being unreasonable but sometimes it is hard to judge and a “see how it is in the morning” type approach does happen.

I walked around on a broken ankle for 24 hours when I was younger before my parents realised how bad it was and got it checked!

Honestly I know so many people who didn't realise they or their children had broken a bone and thought it was just bruised/sprained.

It's so common I couldn't genuinely find myself thinking he had done it maliciously. I'm sure most of us would apply a watch and wait approach in this situation especially on a Friday night.

I’m not sure what adding drama to this would add
one of ours did his ankle it was next day before we took him
you’d have to be there at the time to make a judgement call and seeing his reaction

how did he break it

I broke a bone as a child. Mother never realised and believed me, 6 years later I had an x-ray and was saying I told you so…doc gave her a right telling off.

Was there an obvious bend, bruising, swelling or breakage of the skin?

It can be really hard to tell. I've been a 3 day trainer first aider in a school medical for 3 years - first as assistant and then as welfare officer. I used to absolutely hate limb injuries - as someone who has never broken a bone as neither did my own child I was terrified I'd miss something.

I'm confident now and touch wood have never made a seriously wrong call but that's from 3 years experience of multiple breaks in a variety of children/teens. I tend to judge as much on the way they react as anything physical and that's only come with experience and developing instinct.

if my own daughter had had an accident four years ago I wouldn't have had a clue how to tell if something was likely to be a break or not.

Your post is a bit jumbled but I know lots of people where this has happened.

Was it obviously broken and how did it happen?

So the Dad is neglectful? YANBU.

Same happened with my stepson, but the other way round. Had a fall on the Monday and “bruised” his arm according to mum.

got to us Friday and clearly wasn’t right so we went to a&e. Broken and needed setting under anaesthesia.

these things happen.

How did he break it? Was your 16yr old in obvious pain or did he play it down also?

As PPs have said, depends on the situation. My DH broke his arm as a child, his (very loving and competent) parents sent him off to school the next thinking he was making a bit of a fuss because there was no obvious sign of a more serious injury. The school had to call them to say “we think maybe an x ray might be needed. He can’t really hold his pen.”

I know plenty of people where this has happened. Obviously if your son’s injury was more obvious, or this is a pattern, then that’s different.