For nearly a year now I have been giving cooking classes to children aged 6-12 years. It has been fun and exhausting and challenging but mostly rewarding for both the kids and I. We have baked and cooked and made up recipes and through it all we have luckily only had the odd burn and superficial cut to fingers, until yesterday that is…..

Yesterday I was helping one of the girls chop a sweet potato. I was helping provide support by holding the sweet potato while she was cutting. I’m not sure exactly what happened but let’s just say my finger was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the knife landed pretty firmly in my middle finger.

With 10 little girls looking at me and freaking out just a bit (luckily they didn’t see the cut) I organised some middle schoolers to watch them while I went in search of help.

Yay for calm Marcelle who didn’t freak out with all the blood and bandaged my finger that was gushing blood. She thought I was slightly mad going back to my cooking class, insisting that I needed stitches, but hey there was soup and bread to be made.

Once the soup and bread were made I headed to the doctor who informed me that I probably nicked an artery and that was why it was bleeding so badly.

I must admit the cut was nothing compared to the two nerve block injections in the base of my finger followed by a 3rd higher up. One stitch, a dead, numb finger and a tetanus injection later and I was back home.

I think my take home from yesterdays crazy class is, never be someone else’s supporting hand especially when they are wielding a knife!

Marcelle’s handy work

The results of my handy work!