This tale is a bit long, but it has a good message to deliver:
I was reminded recently how unpleasant the ice can be. I fell like a sack of potatoes on a parking lot that we had just completed a snow removal on. One my employees had nearly fallen moments before, but I have been doing snow removal for many years and walking on ice as long as I can remember, so no problem, right?. Ooops! My feet just flew out from under me; there was no possibility of correcting the fall. I fell on my hip and my right forearm onto the hard pavement. Being a pretty spry 51 years old, I got back up with no problem, although I really felt lucky that I didn't get busted up.
My mother (77 years old) fell on the ice yesterday in what must have been a similar accident. She says that her feet just flew out from under her, and she had no chance to avoid the spill. She hobbled inside with the help of her friend (of nearly the same age), and didn't call me until this morning. After I got there, she passed out while attempting to take two steps (she didn't want to call an ambulance). I called the ambulance.
It turns out that she broke both her left hip and shoulder, then endured an entire night of pain before she called me. She said that she hobbled unassisted 4 times to the bathroom during the night. Can you imagine how painful it is to walk on a broken femur, carrying your shattered shoulder at the same time?
Because she has always gotten by just fine, my "always healthy" mother just became another infirm elderly in just one moment. She has never been in an ambulance in the last 50 years, and she hasn't seen a doctor for so long that she couldn't tell the emergency room who her personal physician might be. Now she is looking at 2 surgeries and several months of being totally dependent on others. She will never regain full use of her shoulder, either. I can only imagine the sorrow she feels because she surely knows she will never be able to dig in the garden, re-finish some old piece of furniture, or remodel her house like she once could.
My advice to those who read this:
1. Don't think it can't happen to you. When you do fall, it is only a matter of luck whether you get hurt or not. Sometimes you CANNOT stand on sloped ground that is icy, unless you have positive traction like cleats on your feet. DON"T go out in it unless you are fully prepared. If you are going to work in icing conditions, get some ice cleats!
2. If you, or someone you know falls, and things don't seem right...Go see the doctor. Don't be tough. Call for help soon, before your injury becomes much worse.
3. Keep your elderly relatives and friends off the ice. Either remove the problem or lock them up inside. When they fall, they get hurt real bad and ruin their health forever. The irritation you cause them will be much less than the hardship they will endure when they land on the pavement.
I was reminded recently how unpleasant the ice can be. I fell like a sack of potatoes on a parking lot that we had just completed a snow removal on. One my employees had nearly fallen moments before, but I have been doing snow removal for many years and walking on ice as long as I can remember, so no problem, right?. Ooops! My feet just flew out from under me; there was no possibility of correcting the fall. I fell on my hip and my right forearm onto the hard pavement. Being a pretty spry 51 years old, I got back up with no problem, although I really felt lucky that I didn't get busted up.
My mother (77 years old) fell on the ice yesterday in what must have been a similar accident. She says that her feet just flew out from under her, and she had no chance to avoid the spill. She hobbled inside with the help of her friend (of nearly the same age), and didn't call me until this morning. After I got there, she passed out while attempting to take two steps (she didn't want to call an ambulance). I called the ambulance.
It turns out that she broke both her left hip and shoulder, then endured an entire night of pain before she called me. She said that she hobbled unassisted 4 times to the bathroom during the night. Can you imagine how painful it is to walk on a broken femur, carrying your shattered shoulder at the same time?
Because she has always gotten by just fine, my "always healthy" mother just became another infirm elderly in just one moment. She has never been in an ambulance in the last 50 years, and she hasn't seen a doctor for so long that she couldn't tell the emergency room who her personal physician might be. Now she is looking at 2 surgeries and several months of being totally dependent on others. She will never regain full use of her shoulder, either. I can only imagine the sorrow she feels because she surely knows she will never be able to dig in the garden, re-finish some old piece of furniture, or remodel her house like she once could.
My advice to those who read this:
1. Don't think it can't happen to you. When you do fall, it is only a matter of luck whether you get hurt or not. Sometimes you CANNOT stand on sloped ground that is icy, unless you have positive traction like cleats on your feet. DON"T go out in it unless you are fully prepared. If you are going to work in icing conditions, get some ice cleats!
2. If you, or someone you know falls, and things don't seem right...Go see the doctor. Don't be tough. Call for help soon, before your injury becomes much worse.
3. Keep your elderly relatives and friends off the ice. Either remove the problem or lock them up inside. When they fall, they get hurt real bad and ruin their health forever. The irritation you cause them will be much less than the hardship they will endure when they land on the pavement.
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