Coming back from winter break was tough after getting used to no school for many GHS students, but it was especially difficult for student Caleb Soat ‘23. He was having a great winter break up until Christmas day. While most students were relaxing with friends and family, Soat nearly lost his favorite finger due to a tragic accident.

Caleb woke up at the crack of dawn, and his whole family was still sleeping so he had to wake them up. The Soat household started their morning by opening their stockings and eating a filling breakfast. “I needed to fuel myself up and prepare before we dove into unwrapping presents,” he said. 

The Soat’s unwrap in order from youngest to oldest, and Caleb’s first gift was ironically a box cutter. After opening a few gifts, Soaty opened a Nerf gun. “I was thrilled when I saw the Nerf gun because I wanted to have a nerf war with my best friend, Matthew Schilling,” said Soat ‘23. But Caleb’s eagerness got the best of him and he was too impatient when it came to getting the zip ties off of the Nerf gun packaging. “I had conveniently gotten a box cutter earlier in the day, and I figured this was the perfect opportunity to use it. The first zip tie I barely had to press on and it came off easy peasy,” said Soat ‘23.  But the second zip tie was a little tougher, and Soat had to put his back into it.

Soat was using his box cutter and trying to cut downwards while his other hand was underneath it, and suddenly the box cutter went through the zip tie and the box and into his finger. “Reflecting on it now, I see where I went wrong, and it’s safe to say I will be much more cautious with any type of pointy object,” said Soat ‘23. 

Once the box cutter had forcefully slipped into Soaty’s finger there was blood gushing everywhere. He ran to his mother and left a bloody trail behind that is still stained in the carpet to this day. Caleb rinsed his finger with water for a while and when the blood didn’t stop they decided to go to the emergency room. “I hadn’t really planned on spending my Christmas in the ER,” said Soat ‘23, “but as Tom Brady once said, adapt and overcome.” 

Soat may’ve been bleeding out, but he made sure to post on his snap story so everyone knew about his tragedy. “When I saw that my boy was hurt, I collapsed to the ground and cried while praying for him to my lord, Carl Wheezer,” said Cooper Einsweiler ‘24. 

In the ER they got the bleeding to stop and Soat got some stitches, so he went home and carried on with life. But of course, with Soat’s luck, it turned out he had hit a tendon. So a few weeks later Soat had to go back to the hospital and have surgery on his hand. He came out a new man, with a cool cast on his hand and the ambition of an evil dictator. “I would rate the experience a 4/10, even though the pain killers were a nice touch,” said Caleb Soat ‘23.

Soat is a beloved student at Galena High School and he is back and better than ever. Although life is a little tougher with one hand, Soat still hit that bounce back and is on the road to success in every aspect of his life. “Cutting my tendon was not not what I wished to get on Christmas day, but I can get past whatever life throws at me,” said Soat ‘23.