A Freak Accident

 Freak Accident

 

 

By definition a Bystander is one who stands by and just watches things transpire, but on Super Bowl Sunday, a freak accident made me a participant. Around 1:00 in the afternoon, I went into my bedroom to take off my slippers and put on my sneakers so that my wife could drive me to a Covid testing center in preparation for a heart catherization this Thursday. As I always do, I sat down in an old wooden chair that I had used for years to put on my shoes and socks. *

Accident Scene

 

However, this time the chair collapsed beneath me and I crashed to the floor. I was apparently unhurt but then I noticed blood flowing down my head, On the way down, I had banged the back of my head on a nearby windowsill. So there I was on the floor profusely bleeding and, like most 83-year-old men, unable to get up. I yelled repeatedly for my wife who was at the opposite end of our house on the phone with our daughter Anne in California. While waiting for her to respond, I got my handkerchief out and placed in on my head, but it did little to staunch the flow of blood which dripped on the floor and carpet.

 

Finally, she arrived and sprang into action. Linda is a former nurse and quickly got a towel and put pressure on the wound. Then, she helped my get up and we walked into the kitchen where she continued to apply pressure. In the meantime, Anne, herself a former nurse, had called our daughter Kate who lived nearby, and she drove right over. When she saw the bleeding, she suggested calling 911. My wife, and Anne, who was on the phone with Kate agreed.

 

In no time at all the EMT crew arrived, and quickly dressed the wound but insisted that I go to the emergency room of a nearby hospital, especially since I was on a blood thinner. It is hard to express how caring, competent, and professional these men were. They got me into an ambulance, and continued to work. Carlos asked constant questions not just for information, but I guess to test my mental condition. Fortunately, I had no headache or dizziness. At the same time, he took my blood pressure which was very high, and inserted an IV to save time at the hospital.

 

At the ER the people were equally competent. They wheeled me into and room with no delay or red tape. It seemed only a minute before a doctor walked in, introduced himself, and proceeded to look at the wound. It turned out to be an artery that was bleeding, and without hesitation he put four staples into my head, and the bleeding stopped. A miracle! Who was it who came up with that idea? The rest seemed even easier.

 The doctor recommended a Tetanus shot,  and a CAT SCAN to be sure there was no internal bleeding. That kept me there for a couple of hours but Linda, Kate, and another daughter, Jane, came over to keep me company. The CAT SCAN results were negative and I was free to go home. Jane and her husband Greg drove us home where we found that Kate had cleaned up the mess beautifully. All the while, Anne had directed everything from California. 

 

I highly recommend that young men marry nurses, and have daughters. 

 

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*The chair was gifted to us many years ago by a beloved neighbor as a momento of her mother. It must have been 100 years old but I loved it because it was not only comfortable but somewhat low so that I could reach my feet. I had noticed that it had been getting a little creaky but never bothered to check it out.