Sue King has more reason than most Kiwi mums to fear a phone call from school.
With 22 broken arms between them, the King family of ot Eden in Auckland may possibly be the most accident-prone in New Zealand.
Every time Sue (43) gets a call from her children’s school, her heart sinks.
So far, her three children, Henry (13), Riley (11) and Harrison (8), have broken their arms a total of 14 times and Sue and her husband Rob have broken their arms eight times between them.
Henry, who’s currently nursing a broken elbow from physical education class, suffered the most surprising break at the age of three when he was running towards his mum at preschool, and he tripped and fell over.
At one point Sue and her two sons all had broken arms, which was when doctors at Starship Children’s Hospital decided to investigate whether their fragile limbs were due to an underlying medical condition.
“Fourteen broken arms is a lot and they’ve happened for mild accidents, such as falling off chairs,” Sue says.
The boys were referred to a paediatric endocrinologist to test their bone structure, with surprising results.
“Their bone density is normal and they were cleared of brittle bone disease,” says Sue.
However, it was concluded the fractures could be related to the fact Sue and her children are double-jointed.
Doctors suggested a gene could be responsible for the family having extra-flexible upper limbs.
“When we extend an arm to break a fall, we might twist it too far backwards, making it more likely to break,” says Sue.
“That’s the nearest we’ve got to an explanation for it.”
After Henry broke his arm at preschool, staff at the hospital decided to rule out child abuse.
“They asked me to take his top off to check him out,” Sue recalls.
“Henry was able to talk, so he could tell them what happened. And all the childrens’ injuries are consistent with a small trauma, not abuse.”
With all of her experience, Sue has become an expert at identifying fractures.
“I know all the tricks to tell if it’s broken,” she says.
“I hand out a lollipop and hold their good hand down.
If they can’t reach out and grab it, then it’s broken.”
Being so accident-prone has caused problems on family trips.
“on four out of eight holidays, Harrison’s had a broken arm and it’s been horrendous,” reveals Sue.
However, despite averaging one broken limb per year, the King family aren’t prepared to stop their kids having fun.
“It doesn’t matter what the kids are doing, they’ll just fall and break an arm,” Sue says.
Harrison wants to play rugby next year and his parents are keen to let him.
“We don’t want to wrap the kids in cotton wool.”
King family injuries
Henry3 years: Falling over while running to mum.4 years: Walking backwards on a beam during a gymnastics class.5 years: Fell out of a tree.12 years: Fell off a swing.13 years: Tripped over his hockey stick.
Riley3 years: Tumbled on the trampoline.6 years: Fell off her bike.8 years: Fell off monkey bars at the park.
Harrison18 months: Fell off a swivel chair.3 years: Fell off Dad’s chair while trying to sit on it to be a “big boy”.3 years: Fell off a pile of cushions when one was taken away.4 years: Toppled off his tricycle.5 years: Fell off a step.6 years: Fell off a flying fox.
Sue5 years: Fell off a windowsill.9 & 10 years: Fell off a bike.37 years: Tripped on a loose plank of wood on a deck.41 years: Fell trying to save Grandma from being bowled over by Harrison on a bike.
Rob5 years: Was pushed and fell down stairs.7 years: Fell off a seesaw.12 years: Somebody jumped off a sand dune and landed on his arm.
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