Forget the Suntan - I'm Now a Burn Victim

Yesterday, my wife, son and I spent a few hours (4 1/2 to be exact) at a local park with some friends. I spent the bulk of the time in front of the large playground, where my son was playing, along with his pals. As this is Toronto, I don't trust the inherent safety of any playground (in my mind, predators lurk everywhere), so I watched my son and his friends like a hawk. Several times, I had to referree some conflict situations with what was obviously a playground bully irritating the threesome that I was watching. All I had to do was put on my "pissed off parent look" (which for me, comes quite naturally), and the bully dispersed pretty quickly. Not that I take great delight in mitigating a potential defensive encounter by my son on the aforementioned annoying kid, but I figured in a public place, and with friends, I may as well try to set the best parental example possible.

So I continued to remain in a fairly stationary position in watching the kids, and a couple of the friends with whom we went to the park came by and sat with me and we discussed a plethora of subjects. Well, as I sat there, with my baseball cap, trendy striped short-sleeved shirt, and navy shorts along with sandals, I did not notice that I was baking in the sun. Truth be told, the temperature was around 22-25 degrees celsius - hardly cause for an alarm due to extreme heat - unfortunately, I was not prepared for what would come next.

When it came time to go home, my wife noticed that my arms and knees and one side of my face was extremely red. "Oh, you got a little sunburnt", she remarked. Ah, it's just some sun, I thought, so I went home...all the while I was feeling worse and worse (physically and mentally). I actually lay down for a few hours in the afternoon, after my wife wiped some aloe vera cream on me. I started to feel as if I was on fire, so I ended up turning in earlier than usual for the night.

Throughout the night, I couldn't sleep - I was riveted in pain. Any movement where the sheets would drag on arms or legs (not to mention my clothing), would make me wince in agony. I finally fell asleep (sound asleep) at around 6AM. Still felt terrible (my wife thinks I was severely dehydrated from the day before) - did not wake up in time to go to church (my wife and son went and left me to sleep in bed). I woke up at noon and went to the washroom, and took a look at myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe how bad I had been burned. Even as I type this, my arms and neck and legs are still extremely sore - they are the colour of "hot pink". My wife said that I look like a burn victim, and that in the 15 or so years she has known me, she has never seen me burn so bad. I told her if she thinks it looks bad, it actually feels worse.

I think I'll stay out of the son for a while. Tomorrow night, I have a church golf tournament to attend. I may try to find one of those full muslim ninja suits to wear, so everything is covered up. I feel like my whole body was given one of those infamour indian snake bites.

I'm not sure if sunscreen would have helped at all - I'll have to remember to apply some next time...I doubt I'll forget to do so, after this experience...

So moral of the story for everyone - don't assume just because it's not that hot of a day, the sun can't do significant damage to you. Take some precautions, especially when you're going to be out for a while in the sun.