It was a really stupid thing to do. Setting a space heater on the floor of our bathroom plugged to a loose extension cord, I mean.
As a matter of fact, I was stupid times two by not turning on the light when I got up to do what so many men of my age must do in the middle of the night. But hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
You can see where this is going. I tripped over the cord and fell headfirst, stopping my downward descent only as my head connected with the tile step leading into the shower. I lay there on the floor out of it. After that, it was one blessing after another.
It was a blessing that Becky heard the commotion and came in to help me and, after some time, nursed me back to awareness. It was a blessing I didn’t strike the edge of the step an inch closer to my eye. It was a blessing that my doctor could check things out early, send me to the hospital for some tests, and then to another doctor for a follow-up.
It was truly a blessing that the damage from my fall — minor concussion, cracked bone, major bruising — was not worse than it was. Yes, several blessings. Now I am sure there are guardian angels.
The thing is, I know what I should and should not have done. What I mean is: I “know” in the sense of having heard the words or read the text. How many lists of home safety dos and don’ts have I encountered over the years? How many times have I watched someone climb a ladder or fix a wire or use a power tool and urged caution?
And yet, when it comes to me, I seem to think I am invincible, the rules don’t apply. “Don’t worry,” I say to those concerned, “I’ll be OK.” Yeah. How’s that working for me?
When I finally got back home from my medical visits, as I was holding an icepack to the side of my face, I checked out some statistics. It turns out, falls are a leading cause of accidents in the home. They account for more than a third of all home injury deaths and older people are the victims of most of those fatalities. About 30 percent of adults who fall in the home suffer from moderate to severe head trauma and lacerations.
Falls account for more than 95 percent of all hip fractures while people 75 and over are more than four times more likely than those in their 60s and early 70s to be admitted to to a long-term health facility for a year or more because of falls.
Now, I am sure I have heard these statistics many times over the years even before I became kind of elderly myself. But did I really hear it?
I suppose what I should be focusing on and trying to keep in my memory are suggestions for how to fall-proof our house. It was easy to find safety recommendations from the National Safety Council, Center for Disease Control and WebMd among others. The first few I came across read like a admonition directed to me personally. They included: “Clear clutter by removing things from the floor,” and “Make sure there is sufficient lighting and night lights in the bathroom.” Other recommendations were: “Get rid of rugs,” Safety-proof stairs,” and “Wear slippers or shoes with soles instead of going around in socks or barefoot.” Guilty, guilty, guilty.
When it comes to preventing falls, my problem is not that I don’t know what is the right thing to do, it is doing it. My wish is that I be blessed to remember to be aware.
