BOSTON - - As Danielle Hartsell and her older brother, Steve,
crashed to the ice Tuesday, her first thought was, "Well, that
wasn't too bad." Then she saw the blood.
The fall was the duo's first while practicing a lift since
December 1999, when Danielle broke her right kneecap. That injury
kept them from defending their U.S. pairs title last year.
But when Steve reached back to feel his head, Danielle saw blood pooling on the ice at the Fleet Center.
"I just freaked because that was a lot of blood," she said.
"We're probably as close as a brother and sister can be. Seeing my
brother in pain just kills me. That was really hard for me to see
that."
Spectators didn't think there was anything wrong at first,
either, because they didn't hear a thud or a crash. But when he
didn't get up, people realized there was something wrong.
Paramedics rushed onto the ice as a distraught Danielle buried
her face in her hands and skated away.
"She was devastated," said Marsha Guilliams, a volunteer who
was about 15 feet from the Hartsells when they crashed. "She
couldn't even look at him for a few moments, and then she skated
back and talked to him."
Paramedics put Steve on a backboard, wrapped a soft collar
around his neck and immobilized his head. They slid the backboard
to the edge of the ice and lifted him onto a stretcher.
Steve Hartsell was in the midst of lifting his sister when he
lost control of her and fell backward.
"I think with it being the first time he's dropped me since my
injury, I think he was protecting me and that's why he hit his
head," Danielle said, tears still coming to her eyes two hours
after the accident. "I don't think he would have hit his head if
it wouldn't have been a concern for me."
Steve was taken to Boston Children's Hospital, where he needed
12-15 stitches to close the gash in his head. Tests showed he
didn't have a concussion, and he was released from the hospital
Tuesday afternoon.
He'll be re-examined on Wednesday, but the Hartsells plan to
skate in the short program that night.
"That's actually the first thing he said to me when he got on
the phone: `I'm scared because I want to skate,"' Danielle said.
"I told him that I practiced and that made him happy.
"If we're OK, it's going to make tomorrow even more special."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Hartsells go from doubtful to pairs short program champs
Results from Wednesday
|
