When was the last time you fell down?
 

When was the last time you fell down? I mean all the way down, dumping your body on the ground. Were you alone? In public? On foot? On a bike?

Let's talk about falling down.

Picture me, wearing a backpack, holding a folding chair, soccer ball, water bottle, and Barbarian Child's hand as we ran across the street to Junior's soccer game. Picture a typical typical 40-year old, white suburban, soccer-dad doosh..

Now picture me just baaaaaaaaaaaarely clipping the curb with my toe, as I attempted to finish my street-crossing.

I tried not to crash and burn. For the next twenty feet or so I attempted to catch up with my center of gravity, doing one of those forward-leaning runs, pinwheeling my arms while my feet slapped the pavement in flat, uncoordinated strides; dropping shit and leaning farther and farther forward until I was past the point of no return.

I didn't just fall down. I blew up.

Have you ever seen a race car go into a long skid, then suddenly start flipping end over end and coming apart? That was me.

I skidded and tumbled, eventually coming to rest on my back. My worldly possessions were scattered behind, beside and beyond me. Barbarian Child was in the debris field, clutching a skinned knee, crying in pain and frustration.

"Why did you do that, Daddy?!"

I tried to scoop up all my stuff, comfort my kid and get my other kid onto the soccer field as quickly as possible. I failed to notice that I lost my phone. It must have hit the EJECT button when it saw me was going down.

I went back to the crash site later; but the phone, like my dignity, was gone.

Thursday October 9th, approx 6:18 am.

I was running (er.. jogging) on the return home leg of my morning 6km run (er... jog) listiening to Focus on my mp3 player (yes I'm a '70's prog rock freak) and I am tracking my approach to one of those yellow nylon straps that bind boxes of photocopier paper, which is lying on the side of the road near the curb.

Stupidly, I run (uhh.. jog) over top of it. I must have timed my rear foot pass over the loop of nylon as my front foot was still on it (stupido) which caused me to pitch forward in such a manner as if both of my shoe laces were suddenly tied together.

Luckily I managed to break my fall onto the asphalt with the palms of both hands, my right forearm and my right hip.

If I was elderly, I'm sure I would have broken said hip.



I came down so fast that I actually heard the impact through the strains of Hokus Pokus (remember Focus? ya the yodelling song. it's loud).



Over the weekend, I was wondering why my right hip was tender. Then it all came crashing back to me.

What an old goof I am.

About a month and a half ago I was cruising on my bike on a series of concrete trails we have throughout the area called the greenbelt. A tropical storm was blowing through so it was wet. I hit a patch of clay, but I didn't think anything of it. I got about 20 feet further and had to turn sharply on the trail. It turned out to be a slick spot on the concrete and the clay didn't help. My front wheel came out from under me so fast that I barely had time to react. I hit the concrete hard, with the impact mainly on my hands, my left elbow and my left knee. I slid for several feet and the concrete, instead of being rough, had sharp edges in that area instead, which shredded my knee and elbow into a bloody mess. Since it was slick, my left hand slipped out from under me, shot forward, and nearly ripped my arm out of socket as my ribs slapped the ground. I laid there for a second, got up and assessed the damage, took a deep breath to make sure I hadn't broken a rib, and turned around and rode the 5 miles home. By the time I got home the rain had drained my shredded skin of blood, and it was gray like hamburger meat where I had slid on the ground.

My knee took a month to heal, and even then I knocked the healing skin off 3 times just being clumsy. The tissue was still forming underneath, which appeared spongy when the skin was removed. Kinda weird and cool at the same time, but VERY painful, even just being touched lightly. It's a nice dark spot now, but not nearly as sensitive as before.

Where I come from, somebody standing nearby would yell, "Yard sale!"

That term is mostly used when you wipe out skiing and shit goes everywher, leaving a field of skis, poles, gloves, hat, pants, shirt, underwear, etc.

Last time I fell right down? Couple years ago when I discovered that enough pot to make me high also makes me faint. Yeah. Fun party.

I was trail running and clipped a protruding rock. I hate having the palms of my hands scraped up, so I pulled them back as I fell, taking the brunt of the fall with my shoulder and hip. Got just a few scrapes, and fortunately nobody was around witness the event.

The Boardwalk at Hershey Park early this past summer. The ground is pretty slick to begin with, but the lines they paint on the ground is very similar to that used for public roads. The ground may as well have been lined with teflon, because the instant my weight shifted when I went to pick up a tube, down I went.

The time before that was on black ice in front of my apartment complex when I was still in college. Had a backpack on, and it was all over. Looked like a damn cartoon, legs out in front of me and flat on my back, turtle style, legs and arms out to the side.

A few weeks ago I rode my bike into a tree and bloodied my elbow. I was trying to take a picture and not stop at the same time. Bad move.

I also fell off my bike at the beginning of the summer when a crotchety old man yelled at me to "walk the bike" on the path near a historic site. I didn't know the sidewalk was also historical, but I slowed down anyway. Apparently, the slowing down of a person on a fixed gear bike is not fast enough so he barked at me again (now behind me), "WALKIT!" I was so startled that I turned a bike and jumped in my seat, just enough to yank the bike to one side and get my foot trapped in the pedal's straps. I pretty much just stopped and fell over very slowly. I half expected somebody next to me to yell, "Timmmmmmmberrrrrr!"

Plus, of course, this happened while I was at work and my knee decided to swell up and cause me to limp. I had people coming in and out of my office looking at me pitifully and the safety officer had to do paperwork for DAYS thanks to me.

Last winter I walking out to the car with my son and hit a patch of black ice on the sidewalk. Thankfully I wasn't holding his hand. He just looked at me impatiently and said "Mooooooom...get uppppppp!", while my buttbone protested any movement whatsoever.

Our office closed down for four weeks and while the bosses were taking a cross-country vacation, it was up to us workers to keep the place going at a minimal rate.
On July 30, my day to check the phone messages and emails, I brought my camera to photograph things in the garden for my own amusement.I asked my friend to meet me and we would go have lunch after I was done at the office. Now, each Monday we are supposed to turn on the sprinkler if there was no rain, so bosslady moved her potted plants to the garden.
I didn't know this.
I took a few shots of some daisies as my friend stood nearby. I turned to leave and took a face plant into the Hydrangea bed, landing squarely on my left knee on the brick path. Fucking flower pots....
After spitting out some mulch, I realized I couldn't move. My friend rushed over to help me but my leg refused to bend, turn or cooperate in any way.
I told him he'd better call the emt's, so he did. 15 minutes later, no emt's and they are two blocks away. He called again but this time directly to the police desk(he has connections) and they said they never got a call. In seconds, the rescue squad arrived and I was taken to the local ER, where, after x-rays, etc., the attending PA announced I had a fractured tibia.
Five days later, I learned it wasn't broken, just really badly bruised. D'oh!

Now we're in August....it's August 31 to be exact and same friend is at my house as we are to go riding for a bit. As he and the spouse sit on the porch chatting, I stroll across my front yard....and trip over a hole.
As I'm writhing and rubbing my ankle, the spouse, showing his tender side, yells, "What the hell did you DO NOW?" "Uh..fell in that hole." "There's no hole there!" He comes over..."Oh. Guess there's a hole there."
They both help me up and I hobble over to sit on the steps. The ankle, same leg as the bruised bones one from a month ago, hurts like hell.
We went riding anyway. And when I wanted to stop to take pictures, my friend helped me walk.

Well, to make a long story not so painfully long, this time I did break a bone. Hairline fracture on the ankle. I'm currently wearing a tortuous strap-on molded plastic-puffy-bag-lined contraption and have two more weeks to enjoy it.

Ya know, when you walk with a cane, people pay attention and are very apologetic when they think they got in your way. And when you skip, your friends giggle.

Towards the end of winter as I was in the parking ramp at work. My mind was so focused on getting my rump into the building I hadn't noticed the very slick patch of black ice in the ramp. I was carrying my purse, and ever present coffee mug(full of tea) As I was sailing to the ground backwards, for whatever reason my brain was thinking hot tea! Needless to say I bore the brunt of my landing on my right elbow keeping the cup fairly upright, also hitting my head on the concrete. I managed to save the tea.. Thankfully the elbow is one of the strongest bones in the human body.

Although this isn't the last time I'm fallen, I'm sure, it is by far the most memorable.

Growing up, I lived near a four lane street that was under heavy construction and was blocked off entirely for a brief period. During this period, I was walking across said street, not really paying to much attention to where I was walking, when suddently the earth opened up and swallowed me.

Either that, or I nonchalantly thought I could apply Jesus power and walk unscathed over an open manhole. Either way, it wasn't a fun 8-10 foot fall, straight down, in the most unlikely of places...

Fortunately, only a few scrapes and bruises - nothing broken, except my pride.

heh heh heh.

I was rushing around the restaurant I was managing trying to do too many things at once. I was carrying a large stack of dishes: hotel pans (large metal pans), smaller serving pans and some spoons. I had my work shoes on which are supposed to be non-slip but there was water on the floor, I caught the corner wrong and slipped. The dishes went one way, I put my hands up to cover my face and fell flat on my back and hit my head on the tile floor. The skirt I was wearing came up towards my hips and I just laid there for a bit. The employees who saw me came around and asked me if I was okay. I was fine but my butt and head hurt for a long time.

Running at Villa Montalvo I took a mighty spill on the redwood trail a few weeks back. I rolled a bit, but fortunately I'm no worse for the wear.

Had fluid build up behind one ear, when I had thhe flu about a month ago. Went to walk down the hall and tottered for a bit then crash..hit the floor hard. Not hurt at all, but I did notice the dust bunnies under the hall cabinet!!!

A couple of months ago I was helping push start a stick shift car that had a non functioning starter. I'm 6'3" so I was bent over some just reaching the trunk lid to push. We were running, the driver dumped the clutch and got the car started and pulled away. Since I was running at a pretty good clip while bent over when the car that was holding me up pulled away there was nothing I could do except go face first into the asphalt.

Last time was a couple of winters ago. I was walking down my steep driveway and was suddenly looking up at the sky. Happened so fast, I didn't feel a thing. I just decided to lay there for awhile waiting for the pain to catch up, but I was fine.

Last winter. Was carrying a box of video tapes from the car to my gf's home. Stepped off the snow covered grass and onto the snow covered sheet of ice that was covering the sidewalk. My foot slipped as soon as I put my weight on it and I fell hip first, elbow second onto the ice. After a couple of seconds of lying motionless assessing the damage, and after about 5 minutes of laughter, I got up with gf's help and continued toward my destination. The hip hurt for about a week afterward.

A few years back, I ran in wet socks on a slick floor. Like a cartoon my legs went up over my head and I landed flat on my back. I did this in front of my roommates boyfriend. As soon as I could breathe again I started laughing really hard at thought of how funny that must have looked to him. He was so concerned I was really hurt, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Oh clavus, you so funny! :)

I have a couple of carpet-tripping experiences that are my latest, but they're boring.
So I'll tell about my last 4 four-wheeler wrecks.

The first one was the worst.
My buddy and I were riding some trails near my house, heading home, when I came upon a two foot tall bump in the trail that's sometimes used for jumping.
Because of my weight, I don't try the jumps. (usually)

I was trailing behind my buddy a good way, so I decided to catch up with him.
I was going about 20-25 mph when I suddenly and violently remembered the bump.
I applied the brakes (I think) and then hit the bump, flipped forward over the handlebars, landed on my left hand, followed quickly by my face.
I scraped my face along the ground a few feet, then felt the four-wheeler land on my legs and lower back.
As soon as everything was settled, I knew I was hurt, because I could see the dripping blood.
I brought my hand up to feel my face and felt my forehead pulled down over my right brow.
Luckily, I don't panic easily.
I held the flap up with one hand, while I wiggled out from under the four wheeler and looked around for my phone.
It had fallen out of the case and was about 5 feet from me.
When I tried to stand, that's when I realized I had hurt my left hand and right knee.
I kinda butt-walked over to my phone, called my friend to bring me some towels and call the ambulance and direct them to my location.

After getting my wounds cleaned of dirt and whatnot and stitched up in the ER, then having to get the stitches removed 3 days later and drains put in because of infection, and then restitched, then going through the process of having a cast on my hand for a few weeks, then a smaller cast, all the while while walking with a cane for a wrenched knee, you'd think I'd stay away from four-wheelers. Ha! As if!

I had 3 more wrecks where I dumped the four-wheeler on its side, doing stupid shit.
The first was riding down a dirt road and deciding to ride on the raised sides (dumped!), the second was trying to do a donut in a gravel pit and it getting away from me (dumped!), and the third and last, following on another trail with the same buddy and trying to go over a fallen log, too slow, with just the two left wheels. (dumped!)
That last one, I thought at first I was bleeding again, because something wet was dripping onto me. I realized it wasn't red, then I thought, "Oh shit, it's gas!" (ok, a little panicky that time)
Heh, turns out it was my Dr. Pepper dripping out of the straw as it's strapped to the gun rack.

I pretty much decided I'm not cut out to ride a four-wheeler. :thumbsup:

P.S. What's galling about the whole first wreck (besides the injuries) was the newspaper article our small paper ran about it.
They at least got my name right, but then they said EMT's responded to a call of a four-wheeler accident out in the country, but it turned out I wasn't seriously hurt and they released me at the scene. (righhhht)
They went on to do a PSA about riding motorcycles and atv's with a helmet.
I feel used! ;)

Last year, while cleaning out the gutters of my house, I realized the ladder I had used to get up on the roof was now at a bad angle, so I thought it less risky to try a controlled release-jump from the roof edge. But when I hit the ground, I ended up falling down. Afterward, my feet, ankles, and the palms of my hands were a little sore, but that soon faded. However, a few days later, after a running-workout on the treadmill, I came down with an acute case of planar fasciitis on one of my feet, which was no doubt due to my fall from the roof. It took me months to heal from that, which sidelined my running-workout plan.

Evidently, I'm not as agile and felixble as I used to be. In my teens and early 20's, I could do – and did – that sort of thing and suffer no lasting effects.

Getting old sucks.
-----Added 15/10/2008 at 11 : 42 : 34-----
Been there. Done that. But that was a few years ago, and since then I've learned to be more watchful for and respectful of ice patches on the sidewalks and walkways, especially the "black ice" variety.

Dude.

Furniture polish residue from earlier in the day + faux wood floor + new socks = pudgy 30 year old man screaming like a girl and waving arms wildly as his feet slip completely out from under him.

I also have a habit of not watching for my chair at work. I could be reading paperwork, talking to someone...whatever. Last time I was going over copies of returned checks and forgot that I had moved my chair out to grab a rogue pen earlier. My ass lightly hit the edge of the chair and then slipped all the way out. Again, more screaming like a girl and flailing.

Who'd have known we were such a clumsy bunch?

A few weeks ago, I was drunkenly bumbling down the platform staircase to catch the train and with only three steps left, my shoes lost their grip and my load bearing foot shot out from underneath me. Luckily enough, my camera on my arm and I landed on my messenger bag.

Since I wrecked my motorcycle something has been very wrong with my knee. It's been getting better, but I suspect something will never be right with it despite surgery and therapy.

Almost everyday I nearly fall flat on my face trying to walk over some obstacle. Usually I catch myself and give a painful wince. Other days I literally fall down in pain.

I had always thought it was funny when people would talk about their past injuries from football or whatever, but it sneaks up on me when I least expect it to and lets me know who's boss.

Being only 25 and in good physical shape, I am very concerned about falling becoming a common occurence, much sooner than I would like to admit. :paranoid:

I was coming back from a long bike ride and got clipped by a cab door on Saturday.

Dammit, it was after riding 25 miles and I got into that spill less than a half mile from home.

Before that was also on the bike, three months before. I was coming back from a 40 mile ride and hit a pedestrian. This was also less than a mile from home.

They say that most the majority of accidents happen less than 5 miles from home.

Guess I better move! <insert rim shot>

...thanks folks I'll be here all the week. Be sure to tip your waitstaff!


Laudanum

The last time I fell down was traumatic, but believe it or not, I had ZERO injuries - this just furthered my belief that I have a bit of Bruce Willis from Unbreakable in me.

I was trying to step over the dog fence we have in my parent's house, and I tripped and I actually pivoted on my waist over the top of the fence and landed HEAD FIRST on the other side - my body hit the ground with my HEAD, then the rest of my poured into the floor afterwards like a snake. I didn't just slowly fall, I tripped and fell flat on my face, it shook the entire house. For some reason, I didn't get carpet burn, any bruises, or anything at all - it was actually kind of eerie, because my Dad saw me do it and was like CALL THE AMBULANCE!!!!

http://www.thetuttletwins.com/impact.jpg

Clavus, I'm there with you. 40 year old soccer daddy, though the boy isn't yet old enough to kick a ball.

Carrying all that shit is destablizing. I miss those times when I fell down due to substances. Now I just fall down due to the load from Ikea.

My current job is construction.. concrete construction. My job is to make my boss happy. Make sure all the measurements are right. Every thing is squared, and tight. When they dump 50 yds. of concrete it goes smooth.

It was over, finally the job was done. I was walking around the slab, checking for cracks the next day. (Not that it mattered, cuz its post tention cables. They come back in a week and pull each cable inside the slab with 33k psi. You can't pull out a cig paper once its pulled.) Hands in my pockets I was being an ass, telling my crew that you had to be aware of your surroundings on any construction job. (our weekely safety meeting) I was using my elbows to point out potential dangers they left lying around. All this I was doing, as I was inspecting the slab.

The day was humid, as any day in Louisiana. Damn bugs being ever annoying. The wind was up, due to a hurricane Ike on its way at the time. We were to pack up and head out for the weekend and hopfully safety. A sudden movement caught my eye. One of our new hands was pulling mightly on a crowbar.

"Jame, turn around and work the bar the..." that was as far as I got. The air was rent with a sharp crack, as the 2x8 form snapped off a section and the pry bar flew from his hands. It landed on the slab, flipping twice and began a twirl towards us. Everyone ran in all directions. I stood my ground, watching intently as it whirled towards us. I wasn't gonna move till I knew just where it was going. Unfortunatly, it wanted a date with my shins. I jumped over it, with my hands still in my pockets. A smug look on my face. I beat the odds again.

Slow whistles and nervous laughter followed the event. As I started over to James, wondering what the hell he was doing, and to make sure he was ok; I felt a slight pressure on my left ankle. Resistance met my forward movement as I tried to extend my left leg. Seems I didn't beat the odds. My shoe lace caught the hooked end of the pry bar, and it had began a rotaton to my left foot. As I lifted my leg, heh I missed the first rotation. (thus saving me from a broken ankle) Alas, the second spin, thought the force spent, was enough to snare my movement. As, I began my decent downwards, my mind soared outward in disbelief.

I turned my body so I could break my fall and not my skull, the whole time my hands seemed to have lost the ability to find the pocket exits. For the briefest moment, I had the vision that it wasn't me falling, that the world sprang up to crash into me. On the way down, I looked out at the woods around us. Every one swears later I said one word:

"Surreal"

I guess I didn't beat the odds that day after all. Since then, I made it a point to keep focus and keep my damn hands outta my pockets.

On a side note... I took 4 sec. for me to roll to my back pull my feet under me, bend my body and stand up. All with my hands still in my pockets.

I was sore for a week cuz of that fall.

I got back to my truck, sat down and laughed for about 10 min. I was so mad at myself I had tears of fustration pouring down my face. Took me about 20 min. to calm down so I could get back to my work.

Reminds me of this:

THOSE ADS ARE FLIPPING SCARY.

Those are the canadian ones. There are even WORSE ones for England.

*shiver*

I slipped this morning and twisted my ankle because I didn't Watch The Gap like the signs on the train tell everyone to. Would have been fine if it weren't for the last time I fell and did it right. A combination of a wood floor, open door, pouring rain, half a dozen beers, more carbombs and Jager bombs than I care to remember, a few shots of grain, and bare feet. Slipped, put my entire weight into a doorframe by way of my ankle. That was January of last year and it still hurts.

I don't think this was the last time I fell, but it's definitely the last memorable time. Our front porch just has boards going across it. They aren't bolted down, just laying there. And before I fell, some of them weren't even full boards and they didn't even cover the porch. One in particular was just long enough to go across two of the braces. I had been stepping on the end and almost falling for a few days, then one day I did it good. You know that moment when you realize you're not going to be able to avoid the fall? Well the reason the board didn't go all the way across was that it was broken, so as I'm falling I see the jagged edges coming up towards me. I think to myself "this is going to stab me right in the gut". So I shove at it with my right arm, which means it's the first thing I land on. (Still have a bruise-like scar there.) Well, I landed perfectly to hit the foot of one of the braces (this thing had to be no longer than two inches) with my head, above my right eyebrow. My husband had been doing something with his back to me and turned around to say something and later told me he was surprised to see that I wasn't on the porch anymore. I had to lay there for a minute to calm myself and then when I finally got up I realized my head was bleeding. Needless to say, my husband fixed the porch the next day.

I don't remember the last time I fell. I have excellent balance.

And now I sit and wait for hubris to strike...

Hah, thought this was going to be an MS awareness thread at first.

Does someone purposefully tripping me count? Cause I spar a lot and that can happen. If so, a few months ago. If not, then like 13 years ago when I was still a kid. I'll get tripped up more frequently, but I've always regained my balance before falling.

You know, I seriously cannot think of the last time I fell down. Tripped - that happens all the time because I live in a house with three women who believe that any flat surface that is empty is a gold-foil invitation to fill it with mountains of crap that would be better stored in a closet, drawer, or other appropriate storage area. Even when I have been severaly intoxicated in the past few years, I've not had a "falling down" incident.

Of course, tomorrow I'll probably fall down the stairs :-P

Tonight, two hours ago. Red and I had been decorating our yard for Halloween, and he walked around back to put some stuff away while I took some extra lights inside. I walked back out on the porch to wait for him, and somehow......I was at the edge of the steps and I turned to walk back up the steps, but my shoe did not turn and over I went. I reached for a large pot, but I kept going never regaining my balance. As I fell into the rose bush the pot went over as well, and I also hit and knocked over a shepherds hook, a "bird crossing" sign and a gnome. The gnome was unharmed, the sign was bent, and the base of the shepherds hook is also bent. So I landed in the rose bush hip first and then rolled on my butt. So here I am laying there unable to move because if I put my feet or hands down I will surely end up with more thorn damage because I have nothing to grab to pull myself up except thorns. So, I wait....and wait....and wait....for Red to return. I panic thinking that he might enter the house through the back and thinking I was inside just go on about his business. A few minutes later, which seemed like an eternity, Red did return and helped me out of the rose bush. My left leg and arm are severely thorn-damaged, and my left hip makes walking painful. Red says our Halloween decorations have been christened with my blood. Happy Halloween..........

Great topic.

Last time I can remember was downtown Fredericton, in August, with friends Oliver and Heather. We were walking and decided to sit on a bench that was bolted to the downtown sidewalk. It sat on the edge of the curb, with the back of the seat facing the street. We sat down, and slowly felt the bench peel backwards; we gripped on to each other. If someone would of taken a picture, it would of been similar to those Six Flags Rollercoaster shots; the ones where you look like you'd love to be anywhere but there. We hit the ground and I tried to roll backwards to take some of the fall better but we hit hard and my elbow took a hard hit.

There was a leg missing from the bench. Silly bench.

This summer. The kids and I went camping with my parents. I was sitting in a camping chair. My mother pointed out that it had a foot extension. I propped my feet on it. I leaned back as I asked my mom if the chair reclines.

She said "not that far" about the time my head hit the ground.

Not the last time I fell down, but the most stupid and painful.

This happened on Christmas Eve, 7 years ago.

The family had gotten together for Christmas Eve, lots of food, presents, family, and a whole lotta wine. I was in the process of taking all the loot that my kids scored from the grandparents to the car. While I was down in the car, my brother and sister-in law were out on the deck having a smoke. They didn’t know I was outside. I took this opportunity to sneak up the stairs and get into position. I was 3 stairs down from the landing, in a perfect Ginja crouch (that’s a Giant ninja). I was waiting for the right moment to jump up these three stairs and scare the ever living shit out of my brother and sister in-law. I was sitting there listening in to their conversation when there was a slight lull I struck. The next 2 seconds will go down as one of the most painful and precarious moments of my life.

I jumped. The three stairs, between me and the landing, posed absolutely no problem at all. I made it up to the landing with room to spare. What got me was the landing it's self. It was an older wood deck that is continuously exposed to the elements. My feet hit the slimy deck and then promptly shot out from under me. My large frame then comes crashing down on my posterior. But the pain in my rear was nothing compared to the fear of falling backwards down the stairs, as I slowly tipped backwards. I flailed my arms reaching for anything that might offer me some sort of stability. Luckily I was able to plant my hands on the handrail and the opposite corner to keep this from happening. After recovering and getting myself safely upright and stable, I started to feel the massive thumping that seemed to be growing in my ass. The rest of the night was spent complaining about the pain that was growing in my ass and making sure every one knew exactly how many stairs I cleared before my tragic crash and burn.

The next morning the pain was intense! Now I know what it's like to be the new guy on g-block. My ass was sore! As I hobbled to the bathroom my wife lets out this huge gasp. She told me to look at my backside in the mirror. So I did. From the middle of my hamstring to the top of my but crack was dark purple. It was one massive bruise!

Next stop, the emergency room.

After explaining to the resident what happened and how much I drank, and how one wouldn't have happened without the other. I got my x-rays. Where my tailbone should have been was a bright white cloud. As it turns out, my fall had atom bombed my tail bone. It was almost completely pulverized, nothing but tiny little fragments of bone floating around where my tail bone used to be. The resident then asked if he could stick a finger up my ass. At first I was hesitant, but after he explained that one of those little pieces could have perforated my colon and if infected would kill me, I let him.

The prescribed treatment for a fractured tail bone?

Vicoden
Anti-inflammatory meds
And a stupid looking cushion to sit on.

Man...well the last time I was staying at my parents house I fell. I was frolicking down the curved staircase in my typical happy fashion..skipping a few stairs on my way toward the bottom..the same way I had done hundreds of times before in high school...well I landed at an angle on the rug at the bottom which promptly slid out from under me on the newly cleaned wooden floors...

Those wood floors...they're hard without a rug to land on. I landed hard on my ass. Knocked the wind out of myself too. Fortunately...the cats were the only ones to see as my parents were not home.

hehe nice topic.

remembered a time a few years back when i was at my holiday house with a few friends and my dad to go skiing. our old holiday house has a long hallway that leads to my bedroom at the end. a friend was sitting on the edge of one of the beds in my room facing the hallway. my bright idea was to run down the hallway and jump in front of him but one small detail i forgot rushed up towards my forehead as i was sailing through the air and the full force of the top of the doorway rotated me through 90° and i fell flat on my back directly in front of him. it was hilarious, embarrasing and painful all at the same time....

I fell down and had a near death experience this week...

I'm building a shed and have just done the concrete base. To make it easier to fix the shed down I embedded 18" long steel bolts in the concrete. These stick up out of the concrete about a foot. I was walking backwards pulling the hose pipe and I trip over landing on my back. I manage to avoid banging my head on the slab (just) but one of these "spikes" ends up touching my neck/sholder. A few inches to the left and.... well anyway they now have somethng placed over them.

3 times in last 6 months
 

Okay - I must be one of the most clutsyest people to walk the face of this earth.

In July, I literally fell out of our camper, landing on each step as I went. No reason, other than I was in socks.

Next fall, last week after a slight icing on the ground. Stepped out of the house and next thing I know I was on the ground.

Then just today, hubby, g-baby, and I went to a going out of business sale. The place was packed and literally a mad house. I knew I was going down as soon as I felt the heel of my shoe catch. Hubby said it was a pretty loud crash and of course all I saw were eyes on me. I just wanted to die!!! G-baby was fine, but now I literally ache all over. I even have the runs now. I don't think I broke anything, but is this normal for such a fall?

I play league soccer twice a week and fall down several times in each game(?)....does that count?

xoxoxoo

The last time I fell was on boxing day. We were all gathering at my uncle's house. From the driveway to the front door it seemed to go on a upward slope. There was a lot of snow and ice. No way I could have made it without wiping out. Still I blame it on Martian ;).

When I pulled my hamstring in the summer I certainly fell over. Bloody painful.

Ive been playing in goal ever since

Must have been like 4 or 5 years ago. Walking downstairs to Apt basement to do laundry. Made it down the stairs no problem (icy). I get to the landing (which is completely flat), and I slipped on ice. Cracked my head, had a concussion, never wanted to go downstairs to do laundry again. I drove to the laundromat.

About two and a half years ago. I was riding a mountain bike trail that I'd been on twice before. I felt really good and kept thinking, "Faster! Faster!"

Which was all good until the abrupt stop. I lost control of the bike, went over the handle bars. I'm guessing I was doing about 30 miles an hour. Got road rash in my arm pits. That was a treat. Then, discovered that I tore a rotator cuff. This in turn caused my bursae to inflame. Over the next year, I struggled with the injury/inflammation and then I managed to sever a tendon in my shoulder. So... two surgeries later and I don't ride so much any more.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/200/4...b251d43898.jpg

At the local walmart. I was going out the in exit and tripped on the carpet. Didn't spill my coffee or doughnut though!!

Today, as I was walking in from work. the floor had just been mopped apparently.

I ended up flat on my back going down the street to pick up the kids from school 2-3 weeks ago. There was snow on the sidewalk, but that wasn't a problem. There was also a patch of ice. A woman walking in front of me slipped and stumbled. I failed to process this warning and ended up flat on my back when i hit the ice.

Couple days ago, I walked down my fairly steep driveway to one of my cars that was parked on the street, left foot hit a patch of wet leaves and went out from under me, and I went down hard on my right knee and hand.

First thought was, "Hot damn! Now I have something to post in clavus's thread!"

Sunday. Lots of snow + bit of ice underneath + me going out to shovel the driveway first thing in the morning = me on my ass.

Didn't really hurt, but I felt pretty stupid.

Back in high school I had an old '48 Plymouth which weighed a ton. One night on a date with my girlfriend we went to the local lover's lane to park, which was just a grassy area at the end of a gravel road. It was winter and the weather was not too cold when we got there but by the time we were ready to leave the ground had frozen. The car wouldn't move an inch before the wheels started spinning and we were beginning to panic because she had to be home at a certain time and her parents were very strict.

This car had a manual transmission and she did not know how to work the clutch so I tried to give her a quick lesson and then got out of the car to try and push us out. She could not figure the clutch out and evey time the car started to move she would pop the clutch and it would stall. So we decided that I would drive and she would push. I rocked the car back and forth while she pushed and finally managed to get out of the frozen grass and on to the gravel. After the car was free I looked in the rear view mirror but she was not there.

I found her laying face down in the muddy mess created by the spinning tires. She was wearing white levis which were quite fashionable at the time and was covered from head to foot with mud from the fall as well as the mud thrown up by the spinning tires. She was OK but was crying and worried how she would explain her condition to her parents when she got home. We went to the local drive through hangout and she cleaned herself up as best she could but she still looked a mess when I took her home. Later she told me she managed to rush to her room without being seen and hid her clothes until she could wash them when no one was around.

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/members...ault/557-a.jpg
Last summer, right before this picture was taken.

We'd stopped to take pictures of the Potomac on the C&O Canal trail and I was getting back on my bike to ride up onto the trail when I stalled, tipped and fell over. Same thing happened last summer on the LiveStrong Challenge ride—I was rounding a corner at the base of a hill and ended up sandwiched between another rider going more slowly than I and the curb. I slowed, stalled, tipped, and fell over.

I'm convinced I'll take a mighty tumble one of these days on the many shoes my partner leaves strewn about on our bedroom floor. Hopefully it won't happen near the staircase.

I fell twice two nights ago. I have over 30 years of experience skiing. This fact made each fall not very dramatic. But I have exactly two days worth of experience telemark skiing. This fact ensured that some kind of fall was bound to happen. I picked myself up each time, dusted myself off, checked to see how close I was to the lift and whether anyone had noticed, and consoled myself with the fact that tele is much more difficult than regular alpine skiing. Yeah, that's it.

My dog and I were playing in the snow. He's dumb as a bag of bricks, and did one of those quick jumping turning around things dogs do when they play, except he was too close to me.
His skull hit my knee, the blow swept me off my feet and made me eat some snow. Had to wait a bit (and curse) before I could start walking back inside.

Oh, and the dog is fine. He weighs about 100 lbs, and his head is as big as mine, so he just looked at me with a "what are you doing?" expression.

I fell down this weekend. A lot. Something about ice, snowboard and steep hill...

About a year ago when I was working a lunch rush by myself and I ran out of bread for the line. I run around alot when I'm in a kitchen at full speed so accidents are bound to happen. I ran into the cooler at full speed and didn't realize there was some juice spilled on the floor by the lazy assed owner/pastry chef we had at the time. I went to grab the bread while doing a full turn and I hit the pool of pineapple juice. I went down hard into the juice and had to lay there a minute before I could get back up and make it back on the line before my bread burned on the grill.

Later my pastry chef (who stayed in the office the whole time while I tried to put out food for 50-60 people by myself) told me she had spilled some juice in the cooler and could I get someone to clean it up.

About 3 weeks ago in a drunken stuper...

My Lady's allergist told her to keep the dog out of the bedroom. Last week the new cleaning lady was given a tour of the house, and the dog came in convoy up the stairs to the bedroom. I guess her dog brain processed that as permission to sleep in our room again. In the middle of the night I get up to ease my bladder, go round the foot of the bed, and in the dark and shadow step on a large dog that shouldn't be there. I do not want to drop 200 plus pounds on her so I bucked around her body as I went down. She yelps, I fall with a crash and slam my feet into the base of the bed as I try to go sideways. She had hurt feelings, as did I. I also had some scrapes on the tops of my feet and a slightly sprung wrist.

The dog does not come up to our room any more :expressionless:

oh, hey! I needed this thread.

I have fallen down not once, not twice, but three times in the last 8 weeks while walking my dog. The last time was the worst.

Note: this was during the now infamous 96-hour downpour that we had a few weeks ago

I was standing on a wooden beam alongside the sidewalk that leads to our pool. Simba pulled suddenly on his lead and, because of the beam's sodden condition and general state of decay and slime-iness, my feet went flying out in front of me and I landed, hard, on the small of my back. The retractable leash flew out of my hand and I panicked, because simba will run, god yes. So I popped up immediately and grabbed his leash before he even knew what happened. Then I hobbled all the way back to my apartment, muttering obscenities under my breath.

Lesson learned.

^^ Ouch!!

I tried to get out of bed, I was half-asleep, my blankets were all over the place and all over me, my foot snagged on one of the blankets.. and then FLOOMP.. hit the floor with one leg on the ground the other still on the bed.

That was at the hospital this past weekend. >_<

I was drunk and stoned and me and a guy were sitting on a old chair of my friends, the chair broke and we fell down laughing . At first I laughed but then I was very embaressed . I get alot of bruises from nights on the town when I play too hard .

Mine was just last week at work. I was trying to get a crappy manual jack out of a broken pallet, so I gave it a hard PULL and fell on my ass, jack running me over. Luckily nobody was around to point and laugh, so I got up, dusted myself off and continued working.

My BEST fall though, was when I slipped on the ice outside my work directly in front of the "Caution Slippery" sign.

Halloween Party, Dark Concrete Room, Loud Music, Excessive alcohol consumption

on the upside, I didn't feel a thing.

The day before memorial day... hiking/running in the woods. Fell like a complete idiot. Luckily no one was there to see me.

it was my first fall of this new year. yesterday afternoon, just waking up, I stumbled out of my slumber very light-headed, trying to walk but more accurately I was careening off-course for about 4 yards across the room until I crashed onto the floor and banged my jaw quite scarily; fortunately, it's alright now just a day later. for whatever reason, I cannot seem to want to remember that when I awake, hungry and barely-conscious, I should do it slowly and deliberately, not just springing forth, ready to tackle the day ahead. you might be the one instead being blindsided.

On Thursday, after two days of museum volunteering and herding 5th grade kids, one of the teachers had an after-party for museum staff. I sat across the hammock, slid my torso into position, and kicked my legs up.

Evidently, the hammock was either sadistic or didn't like that very much. I didn't so much fall as the hammock flipped over with gusto and threw me at the ground. My back hit the support bar, and at that moment, I got a beer and kept my distance from the trampoline.

Just in case.
FYI, this still hurts from Jan. 2007
You seem to be in pretty good condition, no visible dirt and still smiling.

It was last year. I stepped on an uneven bit of sidewalk when I was hurrying for the bus. My ankle collapsed under me and I pitched forward into an uncontrolled and complete face plant. Not pretty.

My ankle ballooned as I sat on the bus. I was on my way to dinner with friends and had to sit with my foot elevated on a chair throughout dinner. It took weeks for my ankle/foot to feel any better.

I am such a spazz...


The only other recent fall wasn't so much a fall as it was an uncontrolled tumble during drunken sex. It involved my shoulder and my wife's lips and teeth. Blood was exchanged as well as much laughter.