MHS principal is on the mend
Sports reporter
Ken Arnhold knew he shouldn't have been driving in the middle of the night.
"It was a dumb decision," he said.
But the Marion High School principal did know the importance of a seat belt, and that it probably saved his life on his birthday, Nov. 4, when he was involved in a one-car roll-over accident.
Now, Arnhold is taking his focus off the accident, and moving it toward getting healthy again.
"I just count my blessings and fortunately I have the type of job that allows me to come back this early," Arnhold said.
His left arm is still in a sling and his hand is hooked up to a stimulator to help redevelop his wrist muscles and ligaments.
Without the stimulator his wrist would hang limp, and the muscles would never fully develop again.
He also is going through physical therapy three times a week at St. Luke Hospital, to help strengthen the wrist.
"They do a great job there," Arnhold said. "There is a lot of pain, but they say it's a good pain."
Day-to-day operations are tough sometimes for Arnhold, who is beginning to realize how hard it is to function with just one working hand.
"There are a lot of little things that are hard to do," he said.
Such as putting on his socks, or tying his ties.
He has his wife Teri tie them ahead of time and he slips one on each day. Sometimes sleeping is even a pain.
He laughed about one night when he tried to get out of bed without waking Teri. As he struggled to get up, he rolled over and on top of his good arm. Laying there pinned down, he had to swing his whole body over and almost flop out of bed.
But Arnold isn't always laughing. Sometimes not being able to function the same as before the accident is frustrating.
"Usually I'm past all that," he said. "But sometimes I have a pity party for myself and then Teri slaps me back into reality."
She reminds him how lucky he is.
Although Arnhold is back at work he knows it could be a while before he is back to normal.
"The doctors told me it could be up to a year, but I'm hoping for less," he said with a laugh.
He hasn't been able to make as many sporting and school events as he would like, but he does appreciate the rides his fellow faculty members have given him to the events he has been able to make.
He announced the home wrestling meet Thursday, and it trying to take it one step at a time.
He knows in order to get back to full health he must keep his spirits up and rely on the help from friends and family.
"Everyone has been great," Arnhold said.
