911 Moon Boots
by Kristi Roper Wright
I woke up one day at the age of 10 in the winter of 1990 to one of those rare and glorious mornings in Boise, Idaho when school was cancelled due to snow. I knew it was going to be a good day. My mom was flustered to have my sister and me home all day. She explained all of the errands she absolutely had to run, so I quickly chimed in that it was not a problem for me to stay home because I could invite a few friends over. My mom mulled this over and eventually caved and let me have my friends over to play.
Around lunch time, several friends arrived. My mom told us we were not to leave the house and ordered my older sister to make sure we obeyed. My mom soon left and I immediately ran upstairs and into my closet to show off my new purple moon boots. We discussed the beauty of the moon boots for awhile, until someone had a great idea to put these moon boots to work and go sledding! It was a snow day, after all. I felt nervous about leaving the house since we had been firmly told not to, but it was hard to resist taking a spin in those cute purple boots. It seemed such as waste of moon boots not to go sledding on our snow day!
We left the house and walked about a mile down the road dragging our plastic sleds behind us to the elementary school. I remember running up and sledding down those hills so many times with my friends, it was easy to lose track of time. It must have been a couple of hours before I realized I was tired and freezing, and that the cold had seeped into my moon boots. We finally started our trek home and I remember thinking, “Is it bad if I can’t feel my toes?”
The minute I walked in my front door, I ripped those moon boots off and ran for my room. My friends followed close behind and I shared my secret that my feet were completely numb. My friend Brianne, whose mother was a nurse, immediately diagnosed me with frostbite. I was terrified. I thought, “Don’t they have to amputate frostbitten feet and toes?” Brianne dragged me to the bathroom and plunged my feet into cold water, which instantly made me cry and my feet itch all at once. Then she picked up the phone and dialed 911. As I rocked myself back and forth, I could hear her explaining to the operator that I had severe frostbite. After a minute, she hung up the phone. “They are on their way” she told me, which made me cry and scratch my feet even more. I am not sure how much time passed as I swayed and scratched, but soon I could hear the ambulance arrive at my house. This was followed by two police cars, and then a fire truck. An EMT looked at my feet for maybe a second before declaring I would survive this “frostbite” incident. Brianne bravely asked him why there was a fire truck in front of the house. The EMT explained that it was standard procedure to send an ambulance, a fire truck, and two police cars to every 911 phone call made. I thought I was going to be sick.
And then my mom walked in and I knew I was going to be sick. Initially she was terrified for me and my sister, worried about our health and safety. However, as people started trickling out of the house, her worry soon turned to anger. How could we have disobeyed her? I will never forget the feeling of being so terrified for my feet, so guilty over having disobeyed my mom, and yet so relieved that my mom was home and I was able to keep my toes.
