This story is the hardest thing that ever happened in my life. Let me explain how it all went down, how my dad hurt himself and where it happened. It has changed my life and what I have to do now because of his injury. Hopefully at the end of this, people will take better care of their body when they are young, so they don't get hurt this bad when they are older. This subject is on the harder side to talk about, so bear with me.

It all started about twenty-five years ago when my father broke his back while he was working for the mill. He got all fixed and felt better, but then about three years ago my dad slipped and fell in a big ice storm. He slipped and fell on the stairs. When it happened nobody really thought anything of it; we just thought he was sore.

A week went by and he was not getting any better. He went to the doctor and they told him there was nothing they could do but give him some pain pills. He had tried this new electric thing that goes onto his spinal cord to give small zaps into his spine to relieve the pain, but still it did nothing, and they had to take it out. The whole time he was not working and was using his sick days.

About six months later, his work told him he needed to come back to work or they would have to retire him young. My dad, who could not work, had to get on disability, and the doctors still can't find out what's wrong. His last doctor's visit said that his diabetes might be preventing his back pain from healing.

For the last couple years we have been going to hospital visits and just trying not to get him hurt worse. This has changed mine and my family’s lives because now I have had to step up and do more stuff around the house. I mow the lawn, get wood, fix things- just mostly stuff my dad would do without us thinking about it. Now I've been working more, and it's harder to get those things done. So, he goes and does it and then can't walk for a couple days because he is in so much pain. He never complains about it; he just thinks that's what he needs to do. We had all these hopes and dreams about what we wanted to do when we moved to our new house, and now I'm scared he will hurt himself so badly that he will never be able to do them with me. We planned on getting a shop and re-building one of his cars in the back, like he had it when it was new. Now I'm just hoping that one day he can feel better so we go out and I don't have to worry as much about him. It changed my life when he got hurt.

All in all, I believe that my dad’s injury was one of the biggest struggles I have had because it took my dad away. When I was younger, we used to do everything together, and an injury has prevented us from doing more. If I could say one thing to people, it would be to spend time with your parents while you still can because soon they will be older and you won't have as many opportunities. This time in my life has been a lot harder than I thought it would. Watching him sit in bed all day is torture. I just hope they find some way to make him feel better so we can get back to the activities we enjoy doing together.

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