By Billy Davis

Santa Claus made a trip to the emergency room in Batesville this week after injuring his foot at the Panola County Airport.

Santa had stopped to refuel his sleigh, Rudolph I, at the airport when a reindeer stepped on his left foot, said airport secretary Dovie Anderson.

“He said, ‘Oh, oh, oh.’ Then he grabbed his boot and jumped up and down,” said Anderson, who had met Santa near the tarmac.

A spokesman for Santa, Vinnie D. Elf, confirmed that Santa was injured Wednesday morning in Batesville and treated at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Anderson said she rushed Santa to the hospital in the airport’s courtesy car.

Santa checking list

The Panolian has reported in recent years that Santa Claus makes an annual pre-Christmas Eve reconnaissance trip in which he checks on boys and girls, and tweaks his naughty-or-nice list accordingly.

Vinnie, the spokesman, said Santa was checking on the following boys and girls in and around Batesville: Andrew, Abigail, Blake, Caleb, Cleveland, Dakota, Drew, Gavin, Grant, Hunter, Jacob, Kylan, Landon, Mary Allen, Mary Madison, Micah, Michaela, Noah, Reid, Snookie, Tanner, Tianna, Tyler, and Will.

“He is watching these children pretty close,” said Vinnie. “They need to act right. That’s all I’m saying.”

The newspaper learned last year that Santa uses Rudolph I for the pre-Christmas trip. A second sleigh, Rudolph II, is used for Santa’s overnight, whirlwind trip around the world.

Santa stopped in Batesville last December to visit the GE Aviation plant, where he purchased two GEnx jet engines immediately after touring the plant.

Foot is not broken

At Tri-Lakes hospital, ER supervisor Ann Overall said X-rays were taken of Santa’s left foot, indicating he escaped a fracture.  

In a triage room, RN Debra Beavers put an ice pack on Santa’s ankle while ER supervisor Ann Overall wrapped the size twelve foot with an Ace bandage.

“He’s lucky because it’s only swollen,” said Overall. “I advised him to keep it elevated and rest the next couple of days to get ready for Christmas Eve.”

Blitzen caused injury

“When I heard him on the radio, it was a total surprise,” said Anderson, who was on duty when Santa contacted the airport to report he was landing there.

Jet fuel is selling at $4.20 a gallon at the airport, and Anderson speculated that St. Nick was making a slight detour to refuel the sleigh.  

“That’s a pretty good price,” she reported.

When Santa stepped off the sleigh, he immediately walked around it as if he was inspecting it.

Anderson, who was meeting Santa for the first time, asked if he remembered the G.I. Joe figures he gave her one Christmas — and he did.

“They were the 12-inch dolls with camouflage. He remembered,” she said.

Santa was petting the reindeer, and handing out reindeer treats, when the incident occurred.

Asked the name of the reindeer that injured Santa, Vinnie identified the reindeer as Blitzen.

Bubba D. Elf, the reindeer caretaker at the North Pole, described Blitzen as a “team player” who is among the “most senior reindeer on the Pull Team.”

“He don’t cause us no problems, none whatsover,” said Bubba. “I gave him a good talking-to after it happened.”

An adult male reindeer weighs approximately 203 pounds, according to Answers.com, though other sources say a male can weigh as much as 400 pounds.

If Blitzen weighs about 200 pounds, Panola cattleman Bill Still noted that a calf, at three months old, weighs about the same.

“If it was only 200 pounds, it shouldn’t hurt much if Santa had on shoes. Was he barefoot?” asked Still.  

Vinnie, after investigating the incident, further explained that Blitzen was “jumpy” after Rudolph I passed over an island near Sardis Lake and the Tallahatchie River.

“There were shots fired at the sleigh. Five in all, ” said the spokesman. “Four of them missed the sleigh entirely. The fifth shot did hit the sleigh.”

A spokesman for the Miss. Wildlife Fisheries and Parks could not be reached by press time about the shooting incident.

Santa and the sleigh have reported similar problems in the past. He was forced to switch sleighs in 2005, on Christmas Eve, when Reindeer II was peppered with buckshot over Arkansas.

Sleigh was taken

Vinnie D. Elf, the Santa spokesman, also reported that Rudolph I was flown by an unknown party when it was left unattended at the county airport.

The sleigh’s odometer showed 3,765,489 miles when Santa landed. It read 3,765,496 miles when Santa returned from the hospital, he said.

“You don’t have anybody around the airport who would steal a sleigh and take it for a joy ride, do you?” asked the spokesman.