I have been reading new blog postings and read where a couple of people have fallen. Falls are a huge health risk. In fact, falls account for seventy percent of accidental deaths in persons 75 years old and older. Dang, I have fallen a lot but since I am not quite 75 yet, I guess I don't have to worry (grin). But maybe not, because the leading causes of someone winding up in nursing homes for people 70 years old and older is falls and the last time I looked, I was over 70. Guess I better start being more careful.
Speaking of falls, I have had a couple of memorable ones. The first one was way back when I was a teenager. My buddy and I would go to a church camp for a week every summer. In the cabins they had bunk beds and I would always take the top bunk. It would get cold up there in the Pennsylvania mountains and we all slept in sleeping bags. Like I said, I was in the top bunk, in a sleeping bag, with my hands down by my sides and I rolled over and right off the top bunk. I landed face down on the floor and with my hands held tight to my side by the sleeping bag, I had no way of catching myself before crashing onto the floor. It is a long way down from the top bunk and that distance seemed like a mile as I was falling.
Another time I was visiting my aunt and uncle in a small town
along the Allegheny river in Pennsylvania in the middle of winter. Yes, it gets real cold there so I was walking with my hands tucked into my tight pants' pockets. There was an uneven section of sidewalk and one slab stuck up a little higher than the one in front of it. Yep, you guessed it, I tripped over that small offset (which seemed like a cliff to me after I fell) and went face down on that hard, cold sidewalk. So now you know something that I am really good at, falling down, and to this day, I am still practicing that sport. So far, I have been lucky enough not to have broken anything important. Now, you all try not to trip over anything and have yourselves a great day, you hear?
Yep, falls are not any fun. Have taken a few tumbles in my life...the worst one twisting my ankle in Terlingua when I failed to see a hole as I was taking the trash to the dumpster.
ReplyDeleteHope that didn't put too big a dent in your festivities.
DeleteIt was a fall on ice in Reno during the winter of 2008-9 that was partially responsible for me being a Fulltimer. I went down hard and bounced my head off the pavement. Laid there a moment or two and a fellow walk up to me and asked if I was OK. He saw me go down and had stop his car and got out to check on me. I had rung my bell pretty good but was OK.
ReplyDeleteIt did get me to thinking however and I made the decision a few days later that I would not be living in Reno during the winter of 2009-10. Left there on 30 November 2009 and been on the road since then.
I moved away from all that ice and snow over 30 years ago, and I really haven't missed that much. . .
DeleteNever have had any broken bones, but have had dislocations. One was my elbow, did that playing softball. Another was getting out of my shower and running for the phone, wet floor so slick i bounced my head on the floor too. Hit the door frame with my foot,which took my little toe almost off. Was hanging by the skin. That was a trip to the ER. Got it stitched back on, and it's fine. This last one, my knees hit first, enough to break the force, but they're fine.
ReplyDeleteUgh!! That gives me shivers just thinking about it. I sure bet that hurt like the blazes!!
DeleteDizzy...sounds like you'd better just keep your hands free, eh?
ReplyDeleteI sure do try to all the time. It is those unexpected times when it meant a real big OUCH.
DeleteLike Ed, my worst fall was a slip on ice that knocked me out for long enough for an inch of snow to cover me! I was found by a firefighter pulling into the lot to set up for a meeting. The ER doctor claimed the only thing that saved me from death was the rolled brim of my tocque. Of course, I've never been right since, but I was way off kilter before the fall, no one even noticed.
ReplyDelete