Following mass at St, Isabel on Easter Sunday, the Sanibel gang headed for a pleasant day at the beach.

Later in the day, I joined the happy gathering and watched some of the young ones display their surf fishing skills. Suddenly this happy scene was interrupted by a scream of pain from Aidan, a fellow caster had buried a hook deep in Aidan's lower leg, near the ankle.

Adults rushed to his aid but all of us realized that there was little we could immediately do as the hook was deeply implanted with only the shank showing and the barb firmly imbedded.

Miriam called her Jim asking for a wire cutter.Meanwhile Tom and Jim carried Aidan off the beach and out to the road where we met Birmingham in his car. Carrying Aidan, who was now a quiet brave young man,Tom carefully climbed aboard and with his cargo, was driven to Tom's house.

There, Jimmy tried to reach Doc Keuhner without success. There was much debate about what to do with some suggesting a call for an ambulance and others suggesting a trip to the ER at Health Park.

At this point JR stepped up and offered to remove the hook, a proposal greeted with much skepticism, But JR persisted, pointing out that he had removed fish hooks from party boat victims scores of times.

We, including his mother, were all persuaded. So Aidan was given an icepack treatment while JR prepared his instrument, a piece of fishline!!

We all held our breaths as JR worked his magic. A quick pull and the hook came out, so fast indeed that it flew past JR to the pool screen,

Aidan let out one brief cry and that was it. Only a tiny cut appeared and it was cleaned with peroxide, covered with an antibiotic cream and bandaged.

Ten minutes later Aidan was leaping in the pool with his usual abandon. JR had turned what could have been a fretful afternoon into a happy ending.

TP/PopPop/Dad