In spite of all our differences, the one thing that binds all living creatures is that we each have an expiration date. This finality to our existence is what makes life special, something to be cherished and protected. But occasionally things can go terribly wrong…
A newspaper photographer covering the Utah state high school track championships got a little too close to the action and was speared through the leg by a javelin. Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner was spared serious injury and even managed to snap a photo of his speared leg while others worked to help him. “If I didn’t, it would probably be my editor’s first question when I got back,” McGeeney said later.
McGeeney, an ex-Marine who spent six months in Afghanistan, was photographing the discus event when he wandered into an off-limits area set aside for the javelin throw. The javelin struck McGeeney just below his knee, pierced the skin and emerged on the other side of his leg. “It wasn’t real painful. I was very lucky in that it didn’t hit any blood vessels, nerves, ligaments or tendons,” McGeeney said.
Medics cut off most of the javelin at the scene, then surgeons removed the rest of the javelin at the hospital and patched McGeeney’s knee with 13 stitches.
