I was about 4 years old when I broke my ankle, not that the hopsital said at that time it was broken, that came later when my right ankle began to ache and give way when I ran.
It was a Sunday, the day before my aunt and uncle had arrived, complete with the family of 5 kids, considering there were 6 of us kids and my mum and dad in the house already; we were what we would class now as "overcrowded". It was great fun!
We slept "top to toe" in our beds with our cousins, the joint of meat my aunt brought along would be cooked alongside my mothers and would later be served up with the best yorkshire puddings in the world!
After dinner, as the adults snoozed, we looked for things to do. It must have been a wet day, because we were usually always out playing. This day we invented a game of bouncing on my mum and dad's bed.
Now this bed was HUGE, it took two attempts to climb onto, and if you hid beneath it the Iron springs dug into you like dragon's teeth, waiting to take a bite.
The game of boucing on the bed became boring pretty quick for the older ones in the group, G (my cousin)had the idead of climbing on top of my mum's old wadrobe and diving onto the bed. I didn't do it, I was far too scared of heights, and my mum, to do so.
As G and my sister Y held hands and dove from the wadrobe we giggled as tghey hit the bed. The Crack, the wooden headboard gave way, and the Iron monster hit the floor, and my ankle. I screamed, and screamed, and screamed. My older brothers and my dad came flying up the stairs and as my dad picked me up my Uncle delivered a swift crack across G's head, without waiting to ask what had happened.
After much deliberation I was taken to the local hospital, my only memory of it is crawling under the lines of green chairs with my "poorly" ankle held up; sucking happily on a sizzel lolly. Being the 6th of seven children it was good to get some attention.
I was taken home and for weeks my dad carried me upstairs to be and carried me down in the morning. I could actually do it myself, but he didn't need to know that did he?