Bleach in the Eye

Last Thursday we were all cleaning the house.  Tyson was sent to the toilets with the bleach spray.  Jackson  came up behind up and yelled at him to playfully scare him.  In his shock, with bleach spray in hand, Tyson turned around and reflexively shoved the bottle towards Jackson's face.  Somehow the tip of the spray bottle went straight into the center of Jackson's eyeball.

I was downstairs working, and all I heard was a blood curdling scream.  Jackson came running down the stairs yelling, "I have bleach in my eye!!!!"  His eye was beat red.  I immediately put his face under the sink and started washing his eyeball.

Jackson has a tendency to panic greatly!!

Abe saw his panic and took my cleansing to another level.  He ripped Jackson from my grasps and carried our 12-year old son like a baby all the way to the bathtub.  Jackson screamed the whole way while is arms and legs flailed all over the place.  Abe pressed Jackson's body against the bottom of the bathtub VERY FIRMLY and pried his eye open.  Jackson couldn't move a muscle while I poured cup after cup of water over his opened eyeball.  After his initial screaming and still in severe pain, Jackson  yelled, "I NEED A BLESSING!!!  WE NEED TO SAY A PRAYER!!!"

We took a break from flushing his eye with water, and Abe placed his hands on Jackson's head and gave him a Priesthood blessing of healing.   (How grateful I was that Abe was home to give him one!!)  In his blessing, Jackson was told many beautiful things.  Among them were the opportunities for Jackson to learn not to panic.  Also, he was told that he would feel better shortly.  That promise was a very important one as panic for a complete healing continued to threaten our peace over the next several hours.  

We consulted with a pharmacist and bought eye drops. We also continued to do the routine of holding Jackson down for a thorough eye cleansing several more times.  Every time we had to hold Jackson down to keep him from panicking as the water rushed over his eyeball.  Each time Jackson was learning more and more self-control.

Jackson's eye continued to burn the entire day and into the evening.  He didn't feel strong enough to go to wrestling practice that evening, but he had a tournament the following day, and he was determined to compete.

At one point Thursday evening, Jackson asked for another Priesthood blessing.  He reported that everything out of his injured eye appeared to be of a different, brighter, odd coloring.  I taught him that this was his opportunity to put faith in the Priesthood blessing he already received.  Jackson was promised that he would heal, so he needed to trust that promise from God.  At that moment, Jackson and I knelt in prayer to ask God to help me to be directed to know EXACTLY what to do to continue Jackson's healing.  I did some more reading on the internet and felt peace about our plan of action.  I knew he would be healed.

We continued the cleansing and eye drops.  We also kept an eye patch on his eye to allow it to stay protected until we left for his wrestling match the following day… and we continued to pray.

Friday evening came.  His eye was feeling significantly better, and we removed the eye patch for good.  Jackson wrestled like a champ!  I don't know if I have ever seen him wrestle with such vigor!!  He was actually growling at his opponent!  Anytime his opponent had him on his back, I yelled out, "BLEACH JACKSON!!"  That kicked him into gear, and he twisted out as fast as he could.

During Jackson's final match, he kneed himself in his eye… HIS INJURED, BLEACH EYE!!!!  Oh he looked so pitiful.  His whole eye ball and even all around the eye was beat red.  A red blood clot formed in the white part of his eye, and Jackson staggered for a while in pain.  The ref asked if he needed a break.  He was CLEARLY injured.  We kept cheering for him to continue strong.  Jackson re-entered the center of the mat, got into a determined stance, and continued wrestling with one eye shut.

This was the moment when he took the words from his Priesthood blessing to heart.  He chose not to panic.  Instead… he PINNED HIS OPPONENT!!!  Several parents came up to me to tell me they were watching that match.  One parent from another team had tears in her eyes as she spoke of Jackson's courage to keep wrestling even though he was hurt so badly.  She said, "Most of the kids here run off crying, but he kept going!!!  I was so impressed!!"

These are the miracles that God showed me from this experience:

*When Jackson was severely injured from the bleach, he knew to whom he needed to turn.  He yelled for a Priesthood blessing and prayers amidst his greatest moment of pain.

*Abe had been gone for 3 weeks.  What a blessing that he was there to give him that blessing!!

*In his blessing, he was told the Lord wanted him to learn not to panic.  Jackson was given the opportunity to display that lack of panic during his wrestling match.  In fact, not only did he NOT panic, he was praised for the strength and courage with which he acted.

*The Lord's timing for relief was a bit longer than Jackson wanted it to be.  However, that timing gave Jackson the opportunity to remain faithful for the promised blessing… which DID COME!!  Jackson's eye is completely better and with no pain.

It is a miracle to me to see the way the Lord works in our lives.  The lessons HE teaches us… the comfort and guidance HE gives us… and the desire for us to achieve our greatest happiness all testify of HIS GREAT LOVE for each one of us.