DadF fell.... And is in the hospital!

[Dan F]

JP- move this to the Injuries and Fatalities as you see fit, but I figured more people would see it sooner here....

I realize I haven't been around here much lately (to be honest, I've had more to say over on Lawnsite.), but thought I would let you all know that my Dad (DadF, as he's known on here), fell off of a truck at work today...

Nothing major, just 4 staples in the back of his head!

What happened, as I understand it (he can correct anything when he gets on next...):
He was in the process of replacing a tree on campus, and was having trouble with the old root ball. He and his co-worker finally got it out of the hole, and used the forklift to load the old rootball into the back of the truck. After the rootball was in the truck, he climbed in to get the chains off of it that were used. He got the first one off fine, the second one apparently got hung up on the hook. He said he was almost ready to hook it to the forklift and get it that way, but tugged one more time. When he did, it popped loose and over the side of the truck he went. Landed head first.

He was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and they were ready to cut him loose until he passed out. After that they decided to keep him overnight for observation. He should be home tomorrow....

Like I said, he's got 4 staples in the back of his head, and I'm sure he'll be sore for a while, but other than that, he's OK thankfully!

Thought I'd let you all know....


Dan

 

[MasterBlaster]

Best wishes for your Dad, bro.

 

[Stumper]

Yes! Best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.
Sooo.........Dan, is it a good thing that Dad landed on his head?

 

[seanlarkin]

That stinks. Your dad is a good guy. Wish him a speedy recovery for me!

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

We once had a groundman fall off a truck and break his arm, I guess it's more dangerous than you would think, climbing around on a truck.
I hope his recovery is speedy.
Now when people ask if he was dropped on his head he can say, yes!

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I hope you're fine and back upright quickly.

Do you get to keep the staples for souveniers?

All the best!

Tom

 

[Dan F]

Justin-
Is it a good thing he fell on his head? Well, it might be, it got him a visit with his granddaughter!

I'm sure he'll be on soon, I would imagine he'll be stuck at a desk for a day or two....


Dan

 

[Saw Man]

Speedy recovery, and well wishes to your Dad!

Sounds like with only a sore head, and some souveniors he's blessed.

 

[Froggy]

Recover

Best wishes Brother hope to see you back soon!!!

 

[Peter Pan]

best wishes

 

[ORclimber]

Ouch Glad he's going to be ok.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Best wishes to all ya F'Guys!

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

wishing DAD F a speedy recovery

 

[murphy4trees]

Hope he makes it OK..
Good story to sell hardhats and homeopathic arnica...
the stuff is great for little or BIG bumps, bruises, strains, and twists etc..

 

[nyoldman]

get well soon

 

[Toddppm]

Ditto what he said above, too bad we couldn't bounce like this guy

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
Hope he makes it OK..
Good story to sell hardhats and homeopathic arnica...

And also to sell or use stump grinders! I couldn't follow the reasoning for removing the rootball of a dead tree instead of grinding it up. Wire baskets could be avoided, or placement changed, or something besides risky strenuous maneuvers.

And, the staples were for the scalp and not the skull, right?
Speedy recovery! I enjoyed talking with DadF about EAB; hope he's back planting soon.

 

[DadF]

Thanks everyone!!

Just logging on and seeing the replies wishing me well really made me forget a few aches and pains for awhile.
I'm finally back home but won't be released for work until I see Dr on Tues. The standard joke in my family is that getting bumped on the head isn't gonna hurt anything. Just maybe knock a little more sense into us .
Just a couple of comments-my partner and I are always on each other about safety gear and take pride in wearing what is supposed to be worn for the appro task, but we have never felt the need for wearing hard hats when planting B&B
2 1/2" caliper trees. Part of the problem here was that we didn't have exactly the right piece of equipment for the entire job. We were replanting trees in 8' dia tree wells that had cast iron grates on the top. We had used a fork lift to remove the grates and rather than go back for a backhoe(there were only two of us) we thought we could finish the job using the forklift. I will also mention that that particular tree was being replanted as a memorial tree and we only had about 1 1/2 hours to get everything popped out, back in(except for "ceremonial" planting soil) and cleaned up. Oh yeah- just for a little extra pressure-somebody walked up to check what we were doing and I all I could see was the gun on his belt when I looked up--seems as if the Gov was also dropping by and nobody had bothered to tell us that At least that is what I was really feeling about about 1/2 hour later. I'd much rather have been climbing around in a tree about then believe me.
Again thanks for the thoughts everyone and maybe I'll have a little more time for next few days to catch up on everything else around here!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Thats what we're here for.

 

[DadF]

Todd-I think I did bounce-first off my ribs and then off my head!?!?
Guy- kind a dificult to use a grinder in that size tree well and especially in a VERY high pedestrian traffic area.