Aw, Ingrid, your sweetheart is a wonderful man. Take good care of him. I am sure the two of you are well suited and you are just as heroic to him.

I’d cut that $&@#% rose immediately. A hobby, any hobby, is not supposed to cause pain and dangerous at that

I have to say the pictures don't do the injuries justice, they look quite a bit worse in real life. Maybe that's just as well.

Your poor husband, those belly scratches look quite nasty, have to keep an eye on those...

I must say your husband has fine skin, if you don't mind me saying so, young looking skin..

Oh Ingrid, what an unfortunate thing to happen. I'm sorry that you're both having such a hard time of it. Trish

Oh, poor Cecil! Of all your roses to fall into, ‘Wild Edric’ just had to be the ONE:( I hope you pampered him well, after that business. You probably ought to bake him some of that lusciously delicious blueberry cheesecake dessert, and wait on him hand and foot. Please tell him that I hope he heals quickly, and isn’t too uncomfortable. Lisa

Oh, no! I am so sorry for this, Ingrid. Please give Cecil my sympathy. He landed smack in your version of Stanwell Perpetual of all roses! Truth be told, I carry my cell phone with me at all times these days--in the garden, down to the basement, walking the dog,..

If it makes Cecil feel any better, I did the same maneuver as a spry 5th grader. I landed right on top of my mother's Hybrid Tea bed and could not get out to save my life! The more I tried, the greater the injuries. I did exactly as Cecil did. I shouted repeatedly for help against closed windows and the sounds of lawn mowers. My mother finally heard me and rescued me. It's a wonder that I still grow roses.

Please do keep an eye on the wounds! They're evidence that Mother Nature can still bite.

As others have noted, the photos not only document Cecil's valiant struggle with the dark side of gardening, they also prove that Cecil is very easy on the eyes. A more attractive couple I can't imagine. You two must stop traffic when you're out together! Carol

I'm so sorry Ingrid ..I hope he is some what OK now

So sorry to hear of this Ingrid and Cecil. I echo Cecil is a good looking guy, and feel free to post more photos anytime, and of yourself too, Ingrid. I stuck my foot in a gopher hole last week, and was grateful I could get back to the house OK.

Ingrid, that is really terrible. It's especially bad as he was trying to do something so good for you. I sympathize totally as I did something similar a few weeks ago falling into Basye's Purple and dragging its canes with me down the hill. However, it was nothing near as bad as this. I do want to make a suggestion to help heal these cuts quickly without any scarring... Try Desitin. It has very high zinc which helps wound healing and it's been a miracle to me this summer with rose scratches. I can't recommend this enough. I hope they were washed well and disinfected as roses can be nasty sometimes. Please give him my well wishes.

So sorry Ingrid! I wish him a speedy recovery!!

I agree with others. What a handsome sweetheart! Has he had a recent tetanus shot? He might want to check into getting one, if necessary. I feel so bad for both of you!

Vaporvac, I think I will also go and get some Desitin. I wonder if it works for mosquito bites as this year has been bad (again) and I had an aedes aegypti bite me a week ago (they are actually very aggressive and it bit me 10 times on the back of my elbow and once on my neck, while I tried to kill the thing) and my arm swelled up like a balloon and was red and hot, and both my wrist and elbow joints were hurting like crazy. I had a lump on my neck the size of a golf ball! I looked like bride of Frankenstein! This thing was in my house! I am covered from head to toe when I am out in the yard!

Sheila, I am sorry to hear that you hurt yourself as well and hope you are on the mend.

Ingrid, I feel so bad for you and your sweetie. I hope he feels better soon.

Ingrid, so sorry, best wishes to Cecil for a quick recovery.

Oh my goodness !! I'm so sorry , it looks so painful ., I hope he recover soon!

OW! I hope he is doing fine now. Do you have aloe vera growing in your garden? I use the fresh gel on most scratches, scrapes and of course burns, works very well. I fell in my garden about an hour ago and did some damage but not as bad since I didn't fall into anything with thorns, just a painful knee bump. Falling is kind of humiliating...

Your poor husband! I can't imagine the pain if being stuck in a thorny rugosa. I hope he's feeling better.

So many kind and lovely posts, thank you. Cecil will be pleased about the complements and commiseration, as am I. Apparently he's not the only one who's been traumatized in the garden. mustbnuts, what you describe sounds pretty horrific. I had no idea we had yellow fever mosquitoes in parts of the US. That thing certainly packed a punch! vaporvac, I see you had your own encounter with the flora of your garden. Thank you for the tip about Desitin. Carol, you were way ahead of us, at the tender age of five. I still fondly recall falling into Le Vesuve and then rolling down the hill some years ago. Marlorena, I told my husband about your comment, and he attributes his skin to his English ancestry (although I'm sure the Irish half didn't hurt either). I imagine we could have a whole thread of all the garden traumas we've all experienced at one time or another. When you love roses it's difficult to remain unscathed!

Cynthia, you are a lady after my own heart. I must say that Cecil is healing very quickly and pretty soon we won't need a cover story, especially if he keeps his shirt on. Spa treatments and massages, yes, and I feel I'm also entitled because emotionally I suffered along with him. We all agree with that, right?

Ingrid, have they determined the cause of his encephalitis? A cousin of mine has been suffering for the past year and a half with encephalitis and it's impacts. Very scary. After millions of tests, they still never definitively figured out the cause.

-Chris

chris, it's autoimmune encephalitis, and he has a variant of it that is so rare that there are only about 300 known cases in the world. Because of that, there is very little information about it except that it can cause cancer, along with many other undesirable symptoms. I'm so sorry for your cousin; some of the variants of encephalitis are so debilitating.

Chris, thank you for asking Ingrid what I had intended to but neglected to. I am sending good thoughts to your cousin! Who knew about all these slippery disorders and diseases that have surfaced in the world? If I had my way, we'd all have high quality, consistent, affordable health care and lots of time to heal...plus plenty of nutritious food and safe housing....and a few old roses.

Ingrid, I will keep you and Cecil in my thoughts! Two such lovely human beings deserve a lighter load. I have begun meditating to help sustain an inner peace and find it helpful, inexpensive and fairly easy to slip into my days. A bit of self healthcare. xo Carol

Thank you so much, Carol, you are the kindest person, and I know you have your own burden to carry. Caring about each other amidst all the bad national and world news is so sustaining and helps in every way. By the way, I can't recall (most things), but have you joined the gardening forum that many of us are streaming to? I loved coming here for so many years, but recent events have left a bitter taste in my mouth. So many of us are over there now, and it's a very friendly and easy to use site. I hope everyone who reads this will wander over there and decide to join. It's the Roses Forum in the National Gardening Association and so many of us have joined there that hopefully you'll all feel right at home. I'll often come back here, also, but too many annoying and frustrating things have happened here, and it's just not a welcoming place any more. So sad, after all these years, but sometimes we're forced to move on.

Ingrid, I haven't signed up yet. I was hoping for another antique forum, but there seems to be a little debacle over that prospect. (I've been reading one of the threads Jeri started.) I know that a number of ARF friends have already moved to the NGA site, and a few have been there for quite awhile. I may yet set up an account there, but I don't think I can juggle two forums, so I'm on the fence. Thank you for asking me and letting me know about your plans! This is all such an unnecessary mess. Carol

Ingrid , I am sorry to hear about your other half falling and huring . Cecil is very strong guy to keep all the pain inside and apologize to you. Wow, if that happens to my husband he will be cursing at the thorns. I hope he will have a fast recovery.

I agree with Carol to carry a phone at all times .

Shiela , I am sorry you hurt yourself. I hope you are doing okay and recovering well.

I totally apologize for seeing this late. Just I have not been on forum as I use to since the changes but I do come on now n then for a few mins.

Ingrid look after yourself and Cecil too. I love Cynthia idea about spas and massages. I think it is a great excellent idea.

Carol, you check the website. I did and I saw Aqua eyes, Lisa and many others.

Jin

Carol, I was so happy to see you "over there", I can't even tell you. Jin, I think you too would love it. So many people from here are there now, and it's such a friendly and easy to use site. Please do consider it. We'd love to have you there, and anyone else who reads this and hasn't yet joined. Jin, thank you for your good wishes for Cecil. I can see that there are very few new posts here, and Carol has also now joined there. Please come along for the ride!

I been checking it out since Jeri posted. Houzz is so broken now. Seems the threads are not moving stuff all and on other site is so nice to read and learn. You will see me there today or tomorrow.

Carol that is great you joined. I hope Shiela is going there also. Cross fingers :)

And I wonder if Marlorena, Bart and overseas ,Rosarians' friends can join. That will be so cool if they do. :)

Jin

Oh my goodness. Poor poor hubby. I find the absolute best thing for thorn scratches is liquid bandage. You can get it at Walgreens. It’s a liquid with a nail polish like consistency. It brushes on clear and seals the wounds. I’ve had times where I put it on one scratch and miss one and the one I miss turns red and festers while the scratches with liquid bandage end up practically healed over night.

Oh dear, this is awful! The things we do because we love these plants! What a good guy your husband is.

Thank you both; fortunately he's a fast healer and, although still very visible, the damage is much improved. He's not allowed to do that again, though. SoFl Rose, thanks for the tip about Liquid Bandage. It sounds like a good thing to keep around.

Jin, if you haven't already, I do hope you check out the other forum. I just can't believe that things still haven't been straightened out over here. Overseas friends are welcome on the other forum. Apparently they have a few there already from other continents.