the scariest day

we were finishing up our weekly riding lesson. with only five minutes left eli said he felt dizzy and lightheaded. i thought little of it and told him to cool down his horse, he only had 3 more minutes left. he turned to take the horse back out, but almost immediately turned around and came back.

   he got off his horse and sat on the fence, hands on his knees. then his face was in the dirt. he passed out and fell cheek first to the ground. the 5 foot fence separated us, which i could have easily hopped had i been processing properly. but i was not. all i could do was yell, "ELI! ELI! OH MY GOD!" i was frozen scared.

   his instructor ran to him and lifted him into his lap, he was also panicked, and kept calling eli's name. then it got worse. eli's arms curled up to his chest and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. he convulsed. i lost it.

  i started to dial 911 when i hear eli say, "what's wrong? why are you guys crying?" he was awake, face covered in dirt, and confused as to why lyla and i were in tears. he was white in his lips and face,  and weak, but his mind was clear and normal. he reassured me, over and over, that he was okay. the whole episode lasted 10-15 seconds, but felt like hours.

   we drove to the er, tears falling down the whole way. mine, not his, of course. and after a few hours, tons of tests, lots of needles and a brain scan. he was fine. they don't know exactly what happened. they think it was "the perfect storm" of low protein, dehydration and possibly his sitting position on the horse. i guess, and hope, we'll never know, because that will mean that this was a one time fluke thing that we will only have to experience this one time and never again. this pic was just a few minutes before he went down...