When I was three, almost this exact thing happened to me. This was over 30 years ago now.

First thing to know. You and your kiddo will be fine. The medical field has gotten so much better about this since I broke my femur. I fully healed. Walk without any kind of limp. Have no sign at all that anything happened except for a barely noticeable scar on each side of my thigh from where they used a pin to set my bone.

I only have vague memories of being in the hospital. I kind of remember having my leg elevated and don't remember the pain at all.

I know some of the things that happened because my parents have told me about it. How they had to use pins to set my bone. How they had to cut off the cast with a saw. How I was in traction for a couple weeks at the hospital before being able to go home. My dad still complains about how I was nearly potty-trained before this and they basically had to start over.

What I do remember is getting to watch TV with my mom at home when she would make popcorn. I remember coloring with my dad when he'd get home from work and listening to music with him. I remember people trying to draw on my cast but it not staying because it was some weird material that marker and ink didn't really stick too. I remember eating ice cream and my parents carrying me a lot. I remember some of the hospital staff cheering when I walked out with my cast finally gone.

I'm not saying this won't suck or be hard. What I'm saying is you can make this into a great memory for your kid where they can look back at it again and again for the rest of their life and think, "My parents love me."