Big oweee yesterday, I’m too old for this

Jeff in TX

My buddy and I were painting the front gate yesterday. I was on the 12’ ladder painting the cross bar 13’ up. Was at the end. Went up to finish the last two feet. I had a rock under one ladder foot to level it. Right as I got to the top the ladder foot shifted off the rock. Then I had the Ricky Bobbie moment as I was coming down. I really think the ladder landing on the barb wire fence lessened my injuries but I broke my right foot and big toe good. Not really sure how or what I landed on

Doc got the toe toe back in place which makes it feel 10000 times better. Have to see a ortho or foot doc on Monday for what’s next. Thank goodness god had me on that fall, it could have been a lot worse. 

Have a blessed Easter everyone!

Accipiter

Ouch.  Ladders are death traps if not handled with extreme caution.

knitepoet

The toe and foot injury sucks, but glad it was only that and not, say, your cervical spine or skull that took that damage

earlyagain

Big falls and old age..........

I hate ladders.
And also ice.

Big Al1

I'm at the age where I hire people to do the bleeding, sweating and crying!! I still do the cussing!! Both feet flat on terra ferma for me, thank you!!

jaywapti

Sorry to hear that, hope your gonna heal fine, I hate ladders, i think they were invented by the devil.

Just before we sold the house in Colorado I was on the ladder painting the trim above the garage door, the driveway was what we called "P" rock, I reached out to far the ladder started falling and i bounced off the winch on  my Jeep, extreme pain, CAT scan showed 2 cracked vertebrate in my neck, said I was gonna need major surgery, went to my Chiropractor, 6 sessions and I'm fine, now 8 years later I'm still good with no pain.

JAY

CaliFFL

In a business class years ago, we were discussing product liability. Ladders were mentioned. IIRC, 40% of the cost of a ladder is liability insurance. 165K Americans are injured annually from ladder falls. 

Congrats, you just became a statistic.


Hope you heal quickly, and with as little pain as possible.  

Jayhawker

After my years as a firefighter, I still scurry up and down ladders without a second thought...but always check out the set-up to make sure nothing is going to kill me...

Get better soon....and don't use rocks to level the ladder...but, of course, you already figured that out...

zorba

Broke my foot in Y2K Greek dancing. Took 4 months to heal - no fun! The soft tissue damage was far worst than the break.

Varmintmist

Gravity sucks.

Having many years of ladder use behind me and a few falls, this wasnt a ladder issue. A rock?

CHIRO1989

A rock? You're supposed to be older and wiser, bet the wife gave you hell Your guardian angel will show you that video some day, get well soon.

Diver43

Your toe HAD to hurt like hades.  Hope you heal quickly and completely

Jayhawker

Your X-ray made me wince a little..,that stuff hurts!

NN

I hope youz recover quickly

das68

Jeff in TX said:

 I had a rock under one ladder foot to level it.

ah Jaysus it'll fine

big toe bone pain?

should be coccyx pain from a size 12

hope you heal up good  

orchidman

Japanese proverb: Crimbing radder perched on lock bling brad ruck...

Hope it heals quick with no lasting effects.....

Make_My_Day

Wow, that big toe is seriously displaced. I hope it heals up quickly for you. I was never a clumsy person, but I have found that since I've been in my mid 60's I have fallen on the ground numerous times because I lost my balance while just standing or moving slowly on the ground or tripping over things. Luckily I was never seriously injured. Tall ladders totally freak me out. I have a 12 footer that I have to climb to get up to the vaulted ceilings in my house to service a fan or a burned out light. I have to take care to make sure the ladder is firmly planted with all 4 legs stretched out properly before I will climb up there, and I hold onto it while in the air. Falling 10 feet or so on a concrete floor would not be pretty.

Rafterman

Broke my big toe trying to salvage a too fast landing after a skydive. I was last out of the airplane and landed about a half mile from the drop zone. The walk back was one of the least fun times I can remember. In my last job I responded to many people who fell off of ladders that were injured much worse than me.

Teach

No ladder involved, but a few years ago I tripped on an air hose in my shop and did a face plant onto a piece of equipment about 4" off the floor.  That one fractured my left eye orbit in 4 places- - - -in the exact shape of the frame of my safety glasses.  I've still got a left eye, thanks to a piece of polycarbonate plastic a little bigger than a silver dollar.  Safety glasses really do work! 

Gene L

I fell off a short (5') ladder standing on the top step, which you're not supposed to do. I was trying to lift myself into my attic, and got unbalanced and fell.  My leg got caught in the  ladder support thing; it was a light, cheap ladder and the aluminum bent.  Could have broken my leg or head, but didn't.

Ladders increase in danger each step you take.

Varmintmist

So is Sgt Hulka feeling better?

zorba

Gene L said:

I fell off a short (5') ladder standing on the top step, which you're not supposed to do. I was trying to lift myself into my attic, and got unbalanced and fell.  My leg got caught in the  ladder support thing; it was a light, cheap ladder and the aluminum bent.  Could have broken my leg or head, but didn't.

Ladders increase in danger each step you take.

Wow. You dodged that bullet for sure! Very lucky.

Old Ron

I hope you heal up fast & move on to the next disaster life has in store for you .

zorba

This reminds me of one of my escapades when I was young and stupid. Working in a room we used to burn in power supplies. Shelves 7 feet high. Needed to get to the back of one of the top shelves. A swivel stool - complete with wheels - was handy, so I climbed up on it to do my thing. I completely ignored my guardian angel who was tapping me on the shoulder saying "I don't think this is a good idea...".

Of course I took a tumble, although it was kind of weird how it happened. I was trying to get off the damn thing and the back was "suddenly" in the way. Gave a loud yell on the way down, landed on soft concrete but wasn't injured - thank Goddess.

Then I had to explain to the assembly dept. supervisor who came running and opened the door how stupid I'd been. Glad it wasn't my boss!

Jeff in TX

Doing much better folks.! The pain and swelling is going down.  Dr appointment with the foot doctor tomorrow afternoon to see if there's any tendon damage!

I didn't think of it until yesterday, I should have had my buddy lift me up in the tractor bucket.  Would have been so much simpler! 

Jayhawker

Jeff in TX said:

I didn't think of it until yesterday, I should have had my buddy lift me up in the tractor bucket.  Would have been so much simpler! 

See...now you're thinking...
Glad you're on the mend...

Fisheadgib

Jeff in TX said:

I didn't think of it until yesterday, I should have had my buddy lift me up in the tractor bucket.  Would have been so much simpler! 

Debbie lifts me up in the tractor bucket to change the light bulbs in the horse stalls and I think that's far more terrifying than using a ladder but a ladder doesn't work well for that task.

Gene L

My BIL who is a builder fell two stories off a ladder.  Broke both wrists and his neck.  He's recovered now.  When I was building my house, I'd climb that wooden ladder to the top (3 stories) and instead of crawling down to move it a foot or two over, I'd hang on with my arms to a window or something and I'd use my feet to scoot it over without getting down.  Stupid thing to do.

mitdr774

Having had to climb up 60 foot (30 foot climbs with a platform between them) of scaffold ladder before I can say that im not a fan of them.  Nothing like a vertical ladder that is mounted by wobble clamps every 2-4 feet mounted in the middle of the ladder.  Nothing to tie off too until you get to the platform.  I would rather climb out of a boom lift and onto a platform 100 feet in the air than use scaffold ladders again.

Ladders suck.  Rock levelers suck even more.  Hopefully it continues to be a good recovery.

Teach

I've learned to use a couple of C clamps and a short piece of 2X4 to extend a ladder leg on uneven ground.  It's surprising how stable that can make things.

Spk

A Rock?!

Tell me you're not a former engineer...

The laws of gravity don't apply to you why?

I'm really glad it didn't turn out worse. Get better soon. And remember, Murphy is out there and he's very patient.

"Hold my beer while I stabilize this shakey ladder with this here Rock."