I was around 10 years and Stella was just a year older than me. We did everything together so at a point, she was more than a neighbor. I saw her as a sister but I don’t know for her.
One particular day, we planned to learn how to fry yam, her favorite. I wasn’t a fan of yam so I wasn’t really interested. She began peeling the yam and surprisingly she was able to do everything without my help which made me happy.
When she started frying the yam, I was now beginning to have interest in whatever was going on. After all, I was beginning to smell food. After she fried the first batch of yam slices, she asked me to fry mine which made no sense to me.
For me, the arrangement was for us to learn how to fry yam together not for her to do it without me and tell me to do mine. Honestly, I didn’t even know how to put the yam in the oil. And I was also scared of getting burnt by the hot oil. So here’s the strategy I used. I stood about 1 meter from the oil and threw the yam into the hot oil.
Unfortunately, Stella was closer to the oil and at that time, it was boiling. The oil just splashed all over Stella and she cried so loud to the extent that up till today, I remember her scream. I stopped everything I was doing to help her out. And according to my naive maths, water was the solution to cool down heat so I poured water on her which made it worse.
She developed burns over her and was rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, she recovered and was brought home but I was so scared to visit her. I was just scared that her mother would probably catch me and pour oil over me like I did to Stella even though it was an accident.
From there, I learned that the instant homemade first aid solution to burns was salt and not water. I also learned that nothing concerns a 10 year old with frying yam. More importantly, I learned that accidents don’t know anything like age and could happen to anyone anytime if you are not careful
I don’t know if I’m the only one whose childhood gets her scared. Like! I was so stubborn. Sometimes I wonder how I thought. And when I remember some things, I ask myself “what if something happened to you?”. Hmm I’m glad I turned out fine.