Joshua D.
4/5
Review Date: December 9th, 2012
The place where I almost shattered my jaw.
That’s right. I nearly shattered my jaw while ice skating at the Owens Recreational Center. Matt, Erin, and I decided to stay in the local area and see what we could do without having to drive far to see something new. My friend Adam was a big time hockey fan and suggested I check out the Owens Recreational Center for an evening of fun ice skating.
Something new and something fun? Sign me up.
We arrived and paid for our skates. Erin declined to take a chance on the ice, so it was just two goofy friends slipping and sliding out on the ice. As a kid, I had a ton of experience rollerblading around my neighborhood. The concept of ice skating had to be familiar to rollerblading, right? It turns out… yes… and no… While the concept is the same, the fact that you are on slippery ice adds a whole new aspect to it. Matt and I had many ‘oh crap’ moments while getting our bearings but once we got going, we held up pretty well. That’s when the trouble started.
I got cocky. I got over confident. My ability to adapt and attune myself to whatever it is that I am doing is good and bad. It wasn’t long before I was speeding around, zipping and swerving around others. This lasted for quite awhile and I had to stop a few times to catch my breath. Ice skating required a lot more physical activity than I expected. During one of my breaks, Erin urged caution since I was still a newbie and I was going faster than I thought. I took her advice at first but in the heat of the moment and the adrenaline of speeding over ice, I was got going a little too fast and ended up banking a turn a little too sharp.
My skate got caught up on the ice and I slammed down hard. Not only did I slam down hard but I landed on the right side of my jaw first and then the rest of my body hit the ice. For a long few seconds, I laid there with the worst going through my mind. All my dental work was destroyed. My jaw was going to be broken. I was going to be on a liquid diet for months while cleaning the wires that held my jaw in place.
As I slowly got up and Matt came over to see if I was alright, a wave of relief washed over me. A few wiggles of my jaw and probing of my teeth with my tongue, I knew I was lucky to avoid a trip to the hospital. I didn’t get completely lucky as my jaw did swell up a bit, there was a gash on the inside of my cheek and I was sure that I was going to kick myself in the backside super hard later for having the night of skating end a bit early.
Yes, after that hard fall I decided to call it quits. We did get to skate for maybe 30 minutes in total which doesn’t sound like much but that’s more than enough if you aren’t trained for skating at all. Aside from my jaw being tender the next day, I remember my ankles and calves were super sore, in a good way.
The Owens Center does offer other activities. Obviously after nearly shattering my jaw, I wasn’t too keen on exploring the rest of the facility but check out their website below to see if there is anything there that might interest you.
And that’s how I nearly shattered my jaw.
