Nope - not a Christmas game. Just a poll of sorts.

Dennis' fall got me wondering how many of you have taken a fall from these two common and yet dangerous places?

I broke a hip missing the stairs out of a motorhome on a hill. I broke a arm on a ladder trying to knock down a hornets nest. Lessons learned the hard way. I never go down stairs anymore without holding the hand rail and I stay off ladders as much as possible and try to be safety first if I must, often asking the wife to hold the ladder.

 

I have fallen from a ladder before, about 8 feet up. I was in my 20's so probably almost 20 years ago now. It was inside a cabinet shop I worked for and I was actually running conduit for the owner to add some heat in another room. I went to step back onto the ladder and it the ladder feet decided to slide out form underneath it. I realized quickly I was going down, so turned and jumped as far away as I could. Other than a bit of strain to my ankle, I luckily escaped bad injury. Had I landed on the ladder something would have broken for sure!

Falling from height is no joke. Always be careful with that. And the more you use a ladder the MORE prone you can be to making mistakes because it becomes just another task.

 

I know a man who died while putting up Christmas lights, simply falling from a ladder, he left behind a wife and kids, and he wasn't very old. I told my wife a few years back that I won't ever put lights on the house above 6 feet , it is not worth the risk. Lights everywhere at ground level but nothing high up. When we bought our current house we liked the fact that you can go up and down floors without more than 4-5 steps in either direction, back-split home. The most you could ever fall is 3 feet .

 

A boyfriend I had in high school was electrocuted the summer after graduation while on a ladder painting a house. Can't remember if the ladder came in contact with a live wire or what. His funeral was very difficult.

 

Not a fan of ladders and if one is needed someone else is doing the work. We had (have) an old wooden ladder. It was used to trim shrubs. Rick had to hop off it at one point. It wasn't on firm ground. No more trimming those shrubs.

One time I was carrying a step stool into the basement. I missed the last step and went down on one knee on the concrete. Just a sore knee but had I fallen down those stairs carrying that step stool it would not have been pretty. Now, I let Rick drag it up and down the stairs. I'm too short to carry that thing.

I too find I am much more cautious going down the stairs to the basement, especially when carrying a laundry basket.

 

I have good friend who's wife fell going down to the basement in her early 40s. She has pretty much walked with a cane ever since.

 

I pruned our Crape Myrtle tree last winter and now I need to reprune it lightly in the middle. I was thinking about it this morning, before this thread was started. I bought a new 7 foot ladder for this tree and for cleaning the rain gutters, and it's stable. I also hang onto branches, so if I slip or the ladder does, I'll be in the tree, not on the ground. (at least that's the plan). I figure if every move I make I first think about how I could fall, I won't. I know, I know, man plans and God laughs. But I'm going to do it, maybe January. Don't want to be on crutches for Christmas.

 

My previous doctor ended up retiring after falling down his stairs and breaking his neck. He recovered, but it was a long recovery and he was reaching retirement age so decided to call it quits.

Amazed I have never had a worse one. I worked at job at 18 that must have just paid off osha to never come there. Day 1 (I was 18) was someone setting a 100 lb steel rotary vane on my shoulder and sending me up a basket ladder, without harness, up a 3 story silo so I could install it. Today I would tell them to pound sand, but then, I was just happy to have a higher paying job and was a dumb kid lol. I weighed about 20 lbs more than that rotary vane I was carrying!

 

After I moved to our new house, I fell down three-quarter turn staircase from 2nd floor to the bottom of the 1st floor because I missed a step. My son watched me fall towards the end as I tumbled down. It sounded much worse and looked horrible to him. Fortunately, I was able to recover without a scratch or bruise. My wife and my son were not happy that I didn't take this seriously. I was trying to make light of the situation since I didn't get hurt but it could have been much worse, I suppose. Now, I am much more mindful and try to hold on to the rail as I go down, a hard lesson learned.

 

My broken femur was a real struggle for recovery. Six weeks flat on my back , eight weeks on crutches, , and eight weeks on a cane before I could put any weight on the leg. I missed so much of my life when that happened, very depressing and isolated when your mobility is so limited.