A bad fall
 

My younger sister took a bad fall on the ice on the lake we grew up on, (and where she still lives), over the weekend. She called me on Sunday and told me about it, happened on Saturday. She got a concussion, knocked out and doesn't remember what actually happened.

I decided to post about it here as a caution for members who live in cold, icy places. She has lived there her entire life and walks around the lake with her dog every day, (weather permitting), so it's not like she isn't familiar with ice. We talked a little about the dangers of falling as we grow older in the thread about the passing of Rusty Heap. It can happen to young people as well but gets worse as we age. My sister is 61 and in good health, not overweight and walks several miles a day. Here is what happened, minus the unknown parts:

It was a nice, sunny winter day and there was a kite festival out on the ice of the lake near the bandstand of Lake Harriet, (for locals). We are sponsoring a family of Afghan refugees who recently arrived in Mpls. and the youngest member is a 5-year old girl who is very sweet and love kites, so my sister was taking her to see them. She remembers walking out onto the ice and then being in the ambulance, (with the poor little girl strapped in next to her...she remembers that), apparently she called her husband at some point because he was talking to the paramedics and directing them where to take her, etc. She has no memory of calling him. They are both MDs, fwiw.

She can't figure out how she fell without injuring wrists, (usually we try to block the fall), also her forehead sustained injuries requiring stitches and her glasses were smashed. The current theory is that she fell backwards and was concussed, then tried to get up like a boxer in the ring and fell forward again face first onto the ice, which has the consistency of cement.

Her husband, my BIL, being the seasoned ER doc he is needed to rule out a seizure or heart arythma(sp) that had her faint on her feet and drop, CT and ECG normal. She is at home recovering and feeling better as of yesterday. She is the youngest of us and possibly my favorite person on earth, though her 28 y.o. daughter is giving her a run for the money. If anything really bad happened to her, I'm not sure I could take it.

This post might possibly be TMI about someone who doesn't post here, I just thought that if it causes one person to be more careful on ice, it's worth it.

It was about 7 years ago when my wife got out of her car in her mother's door yard, hit a small patch of ice and went down. She stuck out her hand to catch herself and fractured both bones in her forearm. Screws and a plate held things together. Several months recovery.
Be careful out there.
Hope your sister heals quickly. A couple of friends have sustained concussions in the past year and the road to recovery has been long for both.

Best
Les

Best wishes on her recovery.
Falling on ice can happen so fast and easily that you don't have enough time to get your hands in place. A fall of any kind is bad....but ice seems to amplify the force.

My younger sister 65 yo...had the same happen this winter in NC. Except hers was walking down steps that had ice and her back took the force of the fall. Fractured a vertebrae and had surgery about a month ago.

Hope she gets well.

Too late to help my older sister.

Concussion. Black eye. Broken wrist. Two nights in the hospital. Not at all happy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1738090886.jpg

I had never in my life fainted or passed out. My blood pressure meds had my pulse down at 40 BPM or so, and I stood up and went into the kitchen for an apple, and the next thing I knew I was on the floor, holding my forehead and bleeding from my like a head-wound can bleed. It looked like a murder scene as my wife came in and started cleaning up blood everywhere.

I put a small towel on the wound to soak up the blood and my wife drove me to the ER for stitches. As I walked into the ER with gray hair and a bloody towel to my forehead, they just opend the door and put my in a bed and I never even had to break stride.

5 stitches, and they kept me overnight. Did lots of tests, and let me go the next day with a clean bill of health. I talked to my doctor and they changed my BP meds to something without beta-blockers. My pulse is higher and no more light headed feelings after I stand up. The amazing thing to me is my only injury was to my forehead, no sore wrists, knees or anything. I guess I did a literal header.

No passing out since.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1738091315.jpg

Fingers crossed that she's OK. It will have certainly given her a fright.

I used to work at an ice skating rink as a teenager as an "ice monitor"
One day I fell and hit my head, almost knocked out. It smacked several IQ points off the bean counter.

What happened, was, it was cold, (it was an outdoor rink). I had grown up on a lake too, very comfortable around ice. I had my hands in my pockets to keep warm. When I slipped, I couldn't get them out to catch my fall.

To this day I take my hands out of my pockets when walking on/around ice.

Makes me wonder if she was doing the same, grabbing a cell phone or some dog treats out of her pockets or something.

"Out walking, woke up in ICU, forehead contusion with mild concussion, wrists and hands fine."

This is exactly what happened to a good friend of mine (68yo).

Apparently (from eyewitness) she tripped on the sidewalk and went down like a felled tree.

The doc convinced her to stay overnight for observation. She still doesn't remember falling.

I gifted her a nice pair of walking poles, but I think now she's embarrased to use them, because she mostly just walks the halls in her apartment building.

Boy, you could have used a good ol' 'monkey roll'!! That woulda' saved your ass!

I should have! My Marty Mcfly alternate life timeline has been screwed up ever since! :D

Prayers and best wishes for/to the best Speedette.

Sounds like you folks in snow/ice/cold country need chains or studs for your shoes!

Glen..I had the same problem with Beta blockers. Why is it that meds that supposedly help make you feel like krap-ola?

On falls...Yeah, I have to watch every step...I've suffered a few. Hey, at 81, I may walk like Biden, but I'm a hell of a lot better cognitive wise. The PA I visit gave a double take on my last "wellness" visit when I asked why the test questions are the same every time...

Speeder I hope your sister has a full recovery . Falling on ice/cement/hardwood floors can literally be a killer . Stay safe out there folks .

First, wonderful she is on the mend with the right folks in her corner. Awesome.

Second, while I know how cold adapted the folks in the northern States are, the past two plus weeks in Maryland, ice and now everywhere in my neck of the woods, I have gained a renewed appreciation of the risks involved often just getting to my car.

Nuts, Denis. I hope your sister heals quickly and that there are no long term complications.

They have those. Microspikes. They are popular with alpinists if crampons aren't quite required.

We talked about shoes in my first conversation with her and she said that she has some good winter shoes that she normally wears when out walking but for some reason was only wearing normal shoes that day…maybe because of where else she was going or (?)

I like the idea of spiked shoes and brought it up. When my parents were alive and still throwing their big Christmas caroling party every year, (maybe 20 years ago), I was in Mpls and slipped on some wet ice in their driveway and landed on my back. My melon made a loud cracking sound when it hit the pavement but I wasn’t knocked out…I let out one of those expressions that would get blocked out on this forum. :)

We talked about all of the concussions that my brother and I had as children. Mine were as a small child, falling off a wall and falling off of a playground “jungle gym” in kindergarten. That one was actually a pleasant memory…I woke up in the arms of my teacher who was a smoking hot 25 year old with huge tits. I honestly thought that I had died and gone to heaven for an instant. I wanted to do it again.

Anyhow…concussions are not a joke at our ages. They are dangerous as all hell. Be careful out there, Pelicans in the cold places, or warm places during a ski trip.

Wow .... in an instant.

Thanks for sharing ... best in her recovery.

Falls are sneaky .... waiting everywhere now :(

Good idea to post this as a precaution to others. Hoping for a full recovery for your sister, Denis!

My wife uses these when the ground is ice covered.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1738104391.jpg

After the broken wrist and hip fracture, she's not taking any chances.

Best
Les