One of the biggest heartaches for any parent is to watch his or her own child suffer from pain and not be able to do anything about it.
Such was the case for Taiwanese Actor-host Chris Wang and his wife, Lin Yixian who were panic-stricken after their son Kai Kai suffered from a head injury.
Taking to a Facebook post (26 Jul) to recount the day's happenings, Wang wrote in Mandarin he was first alerted to the incident in the morning while editing a video at home.
"Hurry up and come down! Younger brother is bleeding!" his wife said over the phone.
Upon hearing the news, Wang rushed downstairs and noticed that both his wife and the 3-year-old were covered in blood. An ambulance was also waiting outside.
"Younger brother just hit his head! The ambulance is not meant to fetch us, but I requested their help to take us to the hospital," Wang's wife said to him.
After ascertaining that Kai Kai was "conscious and was not crying too intensely", Chris told his wife to first hop on the ambulance with Kai Kai. He stayed behind to prepare some essentials the family would need at the hospital.
The Dilemma: Surgery or Not?
En route to the hospital, Wang's wife called and sought for his advice on whether they should proceed with surgery.
According to the doctor, while Kai Kai could be strongly resistant during the stitching, he does not recommend putting him through general anaesthesia.
"I'll be reaching in 5 minutes! Help me tell the doctor that a general anaesthesia is possible!" was the only response Wang could give as he has yet to witness the extent of his son's injuries.
Wang was caught in a dilemma as he recalled the harrowing experience of an Australian child who suffered from extensive burns when he was just three years old. The child went through a "brutal" medical treatment that left him traumatised—and he never spoke again for more than 10 years.
Doctor Proposes Method To Treat Child
Upon arrival at the hospital, Wang noticed that his wife's facial expressions were tense but "[she] still held it together".
"I turned to look at Kai Kai, and realised why the doctor did not recommend general anaesthesia..." he wrote. Wang also said that the doctor proposed a way that could help reduce Kai Kai's resistance in getting stitched up.
The doctor said: "Do you want to let me try something? I will first utilise a method that might allow [Kai Kai] to be more willing to accept the stitching. However if that fails, let us reconsider putting him under general anaesthesia."
To that, Wang entrusted Kai Kai with the doctor: "Ok, we are counting on you, doctor!"
The Process: Calming the Child
In the rest of his post, Wang described how the doctor managed to calm Kai Kai while administering the treatment.
The trick? Through a "marvellous" story coupled with self-directed acting by the doctor. According to Wang, this was how the doctor told the story to Kai Kai:
"Little boy, because your head hit the floor, there are many bugs that entered it. Let's catch the bugs together later so that they will not multiply and grow longer. If not, they could eat your eyes then crawl to your mum and eat her flesh... (sic)"
Afterwards, Wang said the doctor explained to Kai Kai the sensations he could experience from the treatment later such as the pain from the injection and tugging from the stitching.
He creatively attributed the pain to how the bugs are unwilling to leave his body and that Kai Kai will have to bear the pain for a little while.
Sang Praises of Doctor
The procedure was carried out successfully as Wang sang praises of the doctor.
According to him, Kai Kai personally gave the go-ahead by nodding his head before any actions were taken and was in no way "forced" throughout the procedure.
"I'm really impressed by the whole process! It also taught us an important lesson in communicating with children," wrote Wang.
To his concerned loved ones and followers, Wang assured that Kai Kai is "alive and well" and they do not have to worry too much. He also wished everyone good health.
"He talked and laughed with us later after the long afternoon nap he had. We just have to observe him further for any signs of concussion. Apart from that, the rest have been sorted," wrote Wang.
You can read his full post here:
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