While making himself a tasty snack, 10-year-old Landen Sturman stumbled backward, falling onto the open dishwasher tray. As his weight came down on the cutlery holder, a steak knife pushed into his back, missing his spine by mere millimeters.
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Doctors said that the 10-year-old was phenomenally lucky to have avoided being paralyzed in the accident. If the knife had been only slightly off the mark, it would have severed his spine. But, by some kind of miracle, and the talent of doctors, he had gotten away with it.
The steak knife was lodged deep in his back. It took some delicate work by Perth Children's Hospital's surgeons to remove it. But, now, Sturman is making a full recovery. He'll certainly be a lot more careful around open dishwashers in the future.
Careful How You Stack Your Steak Knife
Let this be a lesson to you all. Stacking your dishwasher is no mundane task. If you're not the kind of person to empty the dishwasher when it is finished, keep the door closed at least. Stacking knife blades up can be fatal if fallen on.
Make sure to keep things like a steak knife with the blade facing down. If you have kitchen knives in the dishwasher, you deserve to go to jail, but the same applies to these. Kitchen knives should never be washed in a dishwasher. The elements at play inside will quickly blunt your blades, so wash them by hand.
The 10-year-old boy got lucky this time. Despite his nasty wound, the quick and delicate work of the doctors has him on the mend already.
In fact, his time in the hospital helped little Sturman find a whole new hobby. He was visited by one of the creative programs the children's hospital likes to bring in to keep the kids entertained. On this particular visit, Struman was introduced to puppetry.
While recovering from his steak knife wound, he turned his hand to marionettes. The traumatic near paralysis experience has a lovely silver lining, with the young man finding a new creative outlet.
Hopefully, he will learn to close the dishwasher door in the future.
