My Experience Shaped My Empathy.

Seeing someone get injured is one of the things that scares me a lot. I don't really know why, but I think knowing how it feels to be in pain has a lot to do with it. Although the level of pain I have felt as a result of getting injured might not be much compared to what a lot of people have been through but I have a clue as to what pain feels like.

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I was barely six years old when I had my first fatal injury, and it was also the first time I got stitched in a very delicate part of my body. Fast forward to my teenage days, and I had two more injuries that made me experience stitching again, and one of them made me stop football.

Unfortunately for me, these three injuries sent me straight to the hospital, whereas I wished they were minor things a simple first aid treatment could take care of. I didn't get any first aid treatment until I got to the hospital, and it was understatable because the sight of the injuries was horrible, plus not many people had the knowledge of first aid, and there weren't kits like we have them hanging around everywhere these days.

When injuries were just minor, I basically just allowed them to heal because my mom's first aid kits are things you won't find in any first aid box in the world, so instead of getting any treatment from her, I just let it heal.

Having passed through the needle three times, I always watch out for not just myself but for people around me, especially kids, because they can be very fragile.

The very first time I applied first aid to someone was during my days as a teacher. Every Wednesday, we observe physical health education, and the pupils are allowed to participate in exercises and sports.

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On Wednesdays, I always get really exhausted trying to ensure that the children do not sustain any form of injury. We teachers always have our eyes running around the playing field, but still, these kids would always get themselves injured.

We had a nursery class teacher who took care of the first aid treatment, and I don't usually stay around because I always feel terrible about injuries. On that fateful day, this teacher wasn't around, and the particular pupil who got injured came directly to me.

It was a bruise on the knee, but seeing the surface of the wound covered in blood made me freeze for a second, and I ran out of ideas of what to do. The injured pupil was a girl between 3 and 4years of age, and she was in the nursery class.

"Get me the first aid kit," I told an assistant teacher who rushed to get it immediately.

I dipped some cotton wool into clean water to wipe the blood before applying methylated spirit, which made the poor girl scream. I had to carry her immediately and start patting her back.

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I know how methylated spirit hurts when applied to a fresh wound, so I had to wait, and luckily for me, a female teacher stepped up to finish things. I waited to see things but couldn't when the little girl was held still and her scream was ignored.

I bought the little girl a snack after the first aid treatment, and surprisingly, she came to sit with me at closing before her mother came around. Sitting with me became a routine for her until I quit the job in 2013.

After her, I was never eager to apply first aid to anyone but I always did when there is no other person to get the job done and it's just because I always struggled with their reaction and whatever pain he or she might be feeling. For my siblings, I treated minor injuries while my mom treated the big wounds from football.

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I remembered how the last born of the house broke his arm, and I couldn't touch the hand until he recovered, I always cried with him whenever the wound was redressed.

Even with my wife, it's difficult for me, but when it's my wound, nothing scares me, and I have done crazy things to help my injuries heal faster. I am not sure it's a phobia, but I will check now to be sure.