Falls

I write about falls and seniors, and I give workshops on how to prevent falls for my age group. So, I should have known better and paid more attention before I fell. We were at my grandaughters second birthday party and we were inside the house, talking and watching the children play when Annie said she was going to the store to get some needed stuff. She asked me to move my car, I said, "Why don't I just go to the store?" She said no it would be more fun if I stayed and watched the children. As we do not get to see them that often, I agreed and then went out to move my car.

The entrance to her house is up a flight of about 8 stairs. It was not raining, I had not had a drink and it was midday, so what could go wrong?  As I started down the stairs, Scott (Annies brother) was about 12 feet away from the bottom of the stairs, waiting at the car, for his sister to come out. Andy (Annie's husband) was to the left of the stairs, walking to the backyard. I took one step, failing to use the handrail and Scott said something and I partially turned and looked over at him and started to respond. As I took the second step, I missed the stair.

I realized that I was going to fall, so I reached out with my left arm to grab the railing, this was a mistake as I now swung back up the stairs. When I was younger I was a runner and a football player and from time to time I would "get in the zone". Athletes know this zone; it is a time when everything is in slow motion and they can see, and predict what will happen next. Some of my friends who have experienced falls also told me that yes, everything seemed to slow down for them as well.  I was in the zone as I started to fall. and everything happened in slow-motion and I was watching it seemed from a distance. This is what I saw.

As I swung back up the stairs, my elbow hit the railing and I bounced across the stairs against the house and after hitting the house, I bounced back and slammed my back into the railing. I was now two steps down with 6 more to go. As my back hit the railing I looked over and saw Scott, who looked absolutely panicked--the kind of look where you see a disaster happening and you are powerless to stop it from happening. 

I then looked down and realized that I was starting to fly forward. I realized that I would miss the rest of the stairs. I also realized that I would ram my head into a concrete wall with full force before landing face first in a bed of rocks and gravel. 

Some people claim that your life flashes before your eyes at moments like this; not true for me. My first thought was I am going to ruin the party because I will probably break my neck or at least sustain some sort of major head injury and they will have to phone 911. My second thought was to get your arms out in front of you, they were currently flapping like wings, which was not helpful.

As I moved forward I raised my arms to protect my head and I decided to turn my head to one side so that the upcoming injuries would only impact my right side. The next thing that happened was Andy, who had moved from going to the backyard, was between me and the cement barrier and I was in his arms. He looked very surprised as I did. Andy is a sheet metal fabricator. He was able to catch me and stop my fall without falling down himself.

I looked at Andy and said, "thank you", he said, "no problem". Scott came over and asked how I was and how my back was as he had seen me slamming into the railing as I fell. By then the adrenaline was pumping and I said I was fine. Andy put me down, and I went and moved my car. 

Scott went in and told everyone what had happened and how Andy had saved the day. When I came back in, Annie was asking Scott why he had done nothing. I said Scott was too far away, but he had his phone out and was ready to call 911. 

I did say that I thought Andy was a hero as he had only seen me start to fall out of the corner of his eye and he had moved quickly to a spot he could catch me. The next day, my back and arms were sore, but I was thankful that I had not been hurt.

My lesson, always use a hand railing and pay close attention when walking up or downstairs. The other good news is that I now have a new story for my workshop on falls.