story by Mickey Redlingshafer,

Science teacher Terry Conner broke her wrist in thirty places during a demonstration in one of her physics class Nov. 19.

According to Conner, she was performing a demonstration in class when she broke her wrist.

“I was doing a demonstration of how forces change when an object accelerates,” Conner said. “To show this, I jumped on a bathroom scale sitting on the floor. The bottom [of the scale] was metal so when I jumped [onto it], it slid forward and I fell backward. I tried to brace myself with my hands, and that [fall] broke my wrist.”

According to Conner, she knew something bad had happened immediately after the fall.

“I knew something was really wrong with [my wrist],” Conner said. “[My wrist] was sitting at a weird angle, and the two ends [of my lower arm] started to swell up like tennis balls immediately.”

According to Conner, the fall damaged her wrist so badly because she has Osteopenia, which is a “pre-osteoporosis.” The doctor told Conner that her wrist had shattered into 30 pieces so she needed surgery, and would have a cast after.

“[The surgery] went okay,” Conner said. “It took two hours. They had to put a plate in [my wrist] with a bunch of screws and a cadaver bone.”

Junior Lizzie Luallin is in Conner’s physics class, but was not in the period that witnessed her fall. According to Luallin, since Conner’s injury, class has gone on as planned.

“It happened Monday during the week that we only had two days of class,” Luallin said. “For my class, there was a sub both days of class but she was back the following Monday. It hasn’t affected her teaching very much. Luckily it wasn’t her right hand so she can still write, but sometimes she needs help doing things that you need both hands for. Also, she can’t jump off tables or on scales anymore to demonstrate things.”

According to senior Hailey Waldenmeyer, who is in Conner’s astronomy class, her class also has gone on without much delay. After her fall, their class tried to help Conner out during class.

“Our astronomy class wrote her a we-hope-you-feel-better card after her fall,” Waldenmyer said. “And we have been trying to make teaching easier on her so she doesn’t have to do as much.”

According to Conner, her injury was ironic because it happened on the anniversary of another health issue she had the previous year.

“The Monday before Thanksgiving last year was when I had my heart surgery and the Monday before Thanksgiving this year, I broke my wrist,” Conner said. “So next year [on the Monday before Thanksgiving], I am taking the day off!”

According to Conner, her wrist has not stopped her from teaching, but has made life a little harder.

“I can still teach,” Conner said. “You really don’t know how much you use your non-dominant hand until you can’t use it. One of the hardest things is you cannot press control-alt-delete at the same time [on your computer]!”

According to Luallin, she hopes for Conner’s sake the recovery is quick.

”I feel really bad for her because it had to have hurt really bad and it happened exactly one year from the day she had heart surgery,” Luallin said. “I hope it doesn’t take a while to heal because I’m sure she is in pain.”

Waldenmeyer also feels bad for Conner, but is hoping the break will give her time to rest.

“It is terrible what happened. You never want to see anyone get hurt,” Waldenmeyer said. “The only good thing is timing. Hopefully over the break, Ms. Conner can have some time to relax and heal.”

According to Conner, after Christmas break, she will go the doctor to figure out when she can get her cast off.