New Staff: Daniel Puryear

By: April Buckles

13-year-old Daniel Puryear was steadying his eyes on his swollen green toe and viciously gripping his mother’s hand.

He waited for the pinch the doctor said “wouldn’t hurt.” The needle was going to completely numb his toe, preparing him for surgery. Puryear laid reminiscing on how not too long ago he was nimbly surfing the slopes of the Wintergreen Resort, but now laying solemnly on a cold, metal table.

“I would have never thought that my toenail would be removed because I contracted a fungus from stubbing my toe,” Puryear said.

Puryear had stubbed his toe so much that the skin had become frail. After a massive stubbing, his toe began to bleed. At the moment he was unsure if the nail was still there. The blood was overwhelming.

“I was astonished to see that my toe was bleeding. I guess after so many times of me hitting it, something was bound to happen,” Puryear said.

Puryear wiped the blood, and continued as he normally would during the day.

Weeks later he noticed the pigment of the nail had shifted to a dark green, and was extremely painful.

Puryear decided to go to his orthopedic doctor to get his toe looked at.

“When the doctor saw it he stood abroad, dissecting my toe with his eyes,” Puryear said.

The doctor demanded immediate surgery. If Puryear had not come in at the time that he did, he may have lost his toe.

Now, Puryear is a fifteen year old sophomore and has had three additional surgeries to his toe, each time losing the nail he has successful earned.