Do You Have A Knife?

During football season, a freshman player came into my training room.  This is not an unusual occurrence.  He was a rookie in the training room (which is always fun to watch them flounder around for a few seconds), he had a cast on his wrist.  He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, therefore neither was I.  I was watching him, wondering what he needed.  He looked around for a few seconds; I was giving him the once over, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.  Sometimes, freshman just get lost and realize the training room isn't where they needed to be and they move on. 

As I was watching him, I noticed his cast was sitting lower on his arm than it needed to be.  Odd.  But hey, that's not the weirdest thing I've seen. 

I finally ask him what he needed.  His reply was........"Do you have a knife?"

Um...hmmm...I pause.  "No???"

"Oh, OK." And he walks out. 

A few minutes later he comes back. His cast is dripping wet, I mean soaking wet.  I finally ask him, "What are you doing?!"

"I need my cast off."

"Um, why?"

"So I can play."

OK, at this point I'm starting to figure it out.  This is the first time he's been in the training room, it's about a month into practice, so I'm wondering why he needs the cast off.  Usually, if someone has a cast, they can play just as long as it's padded.  I pad casts all the time.  It's really no big deal.  So I inquire, "Why do you want your cast off? Did your Dr say it's time for your cast to come off? Does your Dr know you are trying to take your cast off?"

His reply was no to all questions. I informed him that I will not be a part of cast removal, he needs to see his physician for clearance and removal of the cast.  Now, you are probably wondering why I mentioned the wet cast.  I finally ask him why his cast was wet.  He told me he was soaking his cast in the locker room shower so he could slide it off.  He also mentioned he used some Skin Lube to help slide the cast off.  I start laughing.  Now, if any of you have ever had a cast, you know that once a cast get wet, the padding swells.  Now, swollen cast padding makes it really hard to slide a cast off.  Not to mention that a cast is formed to the arm, skinny at the wrist, wide at the fingers.  Try sliding a tight bracelet over your hand - you will notice it doesn't work. Not even with Skin Lube and water. The cast moved about an inch, not nearly enough for removal. 

He gets mad that I won't help him cut his cast off and he leaves.  The next day he comes back, sans cast.  I ask him if he went to the Dr.  With a matter of fact look he says, "No, I cut it off with a steak knife last night." 

Um...Speechless two days in a row.  I ask him how long ago he broke his wrist, he says 4 weeks.  I ask him what position he plays (hoping it's not a position he will need to block), he informs me he is a kicker for the freshman team.  I then explain he can still play with a cast, especially as a kicker. 

At this point, I'm wondering where the parents were last night while he was using a steak knife on his cast.