Monday, January 16, 2023

Fall Down Go Boom

You may recall that Sue took a mighty tumble before Christmas. She landed on her face, and weeks later, she still has some bruising and swelling.

Now, I have gone and done the same thing. Thankfully, I didn’t land on my face but on my side. I don’t bruise like Sue; in fact, I scarcely bruise at all. While she turns purple-black, twelve hours later I can hardly see the two fairly large but very faintly discoloured patches on my right buttock and upper leg. Even the soreness in my lower extremities has subsided a lot overnight. However, as sat in my chair playing my usual games of Sudoku on my tablet this morning, my shoulder hurt every time that I lifted my finger to make an entry.

Apparently, Sue and I did the same thing. She tripped over the laces of her boots, and so did I. Well, I didn’t trip over the laces on her boots but on mine.  lol

Neither of us laced them up for a quick trip outside, in my case just to spend ten minutes clearing snow.

“What’s that” you ask. “You didn’t lace up your boots? And this was after Sue fell doing the same thing? Are you crazy?”

Well yes, I probably am crazy, but I am not as stupid as it seems.

These boots go on forever, and neither of us wanted to take the time to lace them all of the way for a quick trip outside, Now, both Sue and I are smart enough to have stuffed our laces way inside our boots. But I had, unwittingly, left a little little loop hanging outside of one of the eyelets — not much and not on purpose, you understand. I had been careful to stuff most of the very long laces right under my foot inside the boot, but I missed tightening this little bit.

Said boots have hooks and not the usual eyelets on the top three holes (not holes). So what happened was that little bit of lace from one boot snagged on one of the hooks on the other boot, and down went AC. It happened in a kind of slow motion, but I was helpless and there was nothing I could do to stop the fall.

I landed between the stairs and the car in the garage. I suspect that my side hit the stairs on the way down before I hit the floor. I would like to see a replay of the fall because it seemed to happen in slow motion. I don't have that, but I do have these pictures from outside just before the fall down go boom occurred. 


We have both emerged from our falls without major damage, which is about all that you can ask when a 75 year-old takes a tumble. 

26 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Double ouch for you and Sue taking those falls and ironically from similar causes. Glad to read she is recovering and also that you did not have any major injury, aside from the lumps and sore shoulder, AC. Years ago, I fell after tripping over a hose that I using. And, like Sue, my face was colorful for several weeks.

Boud said...

I'm glad you didn't fare worse. But those boots sound like a liability!

Marie Smith said...

You are both fortunate indeed!

Patio Postcards said...

Oh dear. Glad you are recovering quickly, now is not the time to be needing to go to hospital! Maybe time to get some zip up boots :)

MARY G said...

Forewarned is forearmed. Boots with laces have to go. Sue's face plant was a scary one - but I guess we are not getting a photo of your bruises, hmm?

DJan said...

I tripped over my own trekking poles last year and managed to get quite an impressive bruise over and under my eye, too. We old people need to stop falling over like that! Glad you are relatively okay. :-)

Ed said...

I think I saw this not to long ago on Kay from Hawaii's blog but they have elastic laces that allow you to easily slip your feet in but they never come loose or untied. The ends are permanently fastened together after being laced and you just use the elasticity to get in and out.

William Kendall said...

Ouch!

Debby said...

You both are very fortunate. One of our tenants is about your age. He lived inthe country and took a fall last winter. Not only did he fall down, go boom. It took him a long time to crawl to where he had something to pull himself upright again and get into his house. The snow was high enough that he could not be seen from the road. He decided that he really couldn't do one more winter in the country.

I am glad that you and Sue avoided major damage. Perhaps it is time to take a look at new boots.

Debby said...

*ones with zippers

Barbara Rogers said...

I guess you all might just change your habit of running around in unlaced boots. If the eyelets are at the top, it takes no time to criss-cross the laces, maybe even go around the back if there's so much lace, then put a temporary tie in them. Just so sorry you both have had boot stumbles. When one is of a certain age, falls are more likely to break bones, so I've been told by many a professional nurse dealing with elder people.

Barbara Rogers said...

I guess you all might just change your habit of running around in unlaced boots. If the eyelets are at the top, it takes no time to criss-cross the laces, maybe even go around the back if there's so much lace, then put a temporary tie in them. Just so sorry you both have had boot stumbles. When one is of a certain age, falls are more likely to break bones, so I've been told by many a professional nurse dealing with elder people.

gigi-hawaii said...

Well, thank God I have Velcro on my sandals. No laces. So sorry about the fall. Hope your shoulder improves.

Vicki Lane said...

So glad it wasn't worse. Fear of falling is at the top of my list nowadays.

DrumMajor said...

I do recall telling children to tie their shoes. Check into L.L.Bean for some zip up boots. I've had a pair of slip-on knee high boots from Bean that still look new after 43 years! A pair for each of you will be cheaper than hospital stays and broken bones. Hope you heal quickly; or check with an orthopaedic doc soon. Linda in Kansas

NGS said...

I do the same thing with tucking in laces into my boots instead of lacing and tying them to save time! This is a lesson for me, too, that I shouldn't be so lazy! The consequences are so dire - I do hope you feel better ASAP and that they don't turn into nasty bruises.

Margaret said...

You both got off relatively unscathed which is great. I too have had one shoelace tangle with the eyelet of my other boot and have almost fallen. (this was with them laced up--but the laces are long)

Jeanie said...

You two! You both take it carefully. Bones don't heal like they used to!

RedPat said...

I fell and broke my wrist several years ago while walking the dog after an ice storm. Ever since I have been nervous about falling so I do a ton of balance exercises. And I put those cleats on the bottom of my boots if it is really icy.

PipeTobacco said...

I am sorry you fell and were hurt…. glad it is not as bad as for Sue…. and I hope she is completely fine now. Maybe you may want to do what I do… both of you…. I have a pair of slip on shoes at the door for those brief jaunts outside (mine are usually to let our dog potty). It is too tempting to not lace shoes that have laces for a minute or two excursion outside. The slip-one sometimes allow a bit of snow to go in around my ankles, but are safer for me than unlaced shoes.

PipeTobacco

Red said...

When 75 year olds tumble, their head hits the ground before the brain knows they are falling. Swift recovery to you and do up your boots.

The Furry Gnome said...

You have a lot of snow! We hardly have any.

peppylady (Dora) said...

Your about 12 years older than me.
Coffee is on and stay safe

Jenn Jilks said...

I am so sorry! Sue got the worst of it, as you say.
Have you learned your lesson?! :')

Suemn said...

I'm glad you weren't hurt too badly from your fall and that Sue is recovering from her fall. I too have tie boots but so far I've continued to tie them even though I've been tempted not to when going outside for a quick shoveling of snow. I don't think I could put the laces inside my boots and under my feet:) I like the suggestions from some of the comments above about getting zippered boots or boots with elastic closings. I might do some internet searching for those kinds of boots. I remember that as a child, I had red boots that I just pulled over my shoes. I think they were plastic and I had great fun sliding on the snow when walking home from school. Ha!

Karen said...

I ran into that problem with my hiking boots. Grrrr