Feel lucky to be alive after falling forward down my stairs.

[Tolkienista]

I'm writing this just to say that you never know what is round the corner and for me I'm still in shock that I had the luckiest escape ever.
Saturday night I was on my own & stupidly descended a few steps of my staircase & leaned over the bannister to turn down the thermostat. I felt my foot pretty much disengage from the tread I was standing on and I was in free fall heading head first down the stairs.

It was probably only a milli second but I literally thought, I'm going to die as I was going forward and I knew the point of impact probably eight steps down would be my head. Miraculously I somehow managed to grab the rail on my right side and slammed into it with my body. It stopped me falling further and I disentangled myself and realised I'm alive.

Yes I've got bruised ribs, but nothing paracetamol can't deal with.

But I'm here to tell my tale and realise that at worst I could have died and at best I'd have sustained a head injury but to what degree I don't know.
Cue a massive sigh of relief , a massive reflection on my life and all that I've done to safeguard myself & then I throw it all away by endangering my life turning down a thermostat over the bannister.
If you've read this far, thank you for your time ........I just needed to get my story out there and say I'm safe, I'm fine, I'm really thankful and most importantly I'M ALIVE.

Thanks

ODFOD trying to shoe horn your mad religious nuttiness into this thread where it isn’t wanted, as the OP herself has thanked my post! So maybe you should disappear into nowhere and shout into the void where your “god” is.

She might did, you came on me for no reason. So think next time before you interfere where is none of your business!

Could you get a stair lift installed?

Few months ago while standing on an escalator going down, it suddenly stopped causing me to fall.
I ended up with bleeding gash on my head, split lip, and gash under an eye. I was bleeding and unable to move.
I was taken to a&e and treated.
You never know how the day is going to end.

What does ODFOD mean?

Oh do fuck off dear,

Same thing happened to me, in those split seconds your first thought is holding on to to your baby and not worrying about yourself, bloody frightening though

Same thing happened to me in 2015. I was rushing about, looking after my twin grandsons.l and fell top to bottom of the stairs. It was the most frightening experience of my life, as it felt as if it was in slow motion and I felt helpless. I narrowly missed banging my head on a wooden trunk at the bottom. I've been very slow on staircases ever since! I must have had a guardian angel doing a great job at that moment. Phew!

OMG so many people having terrible accidents on stairs!

I too know of one friend of a friend who tripped over her cat, went down the stairs, got head injuries and now can't work.

I am now just going upstairs to bed....very, very carefully...

Hold on to your bannister and good night!

I was out this evening and was told by my friend about her neighbour who has just died after falling down her stairs! Older lady, but was fit, active and healthy. So scary!

Omg OP! You must still be shaking. It's in my top 3 of utmost fears. I'd have to sell up immediately and buy a bungalow. I hope you're OK, and recover quickly 💐

Thank you for sharing your recollection of that day.
For me it's only 9 days ago and I too feel that something amazing happened to stop me hitting the floor with my head.
I'm still horrified by that night and like you I'm descending and ascending very carefully.
It's really shaken my confidence.

Thanks for your lovely words
Nine days on, it's still uppermost in my mind every time I go up and down my stairs.
Physically, my ribs are painful. I've been checked over by a doctor in hospital, nothing broken just very bruised.
And you're right I really do feel like moving on and into one level living.
So glad I'm here to tell my tale.

This is it, people do die from falling down their stairs.
Never in my life have I ever thought "I'm going to die"
But on that Saturday night I honestly did.

I know exactly how you felt, I did it in August 2018, am lucky to be alive. I really thought that was it.

All we can do is be super careful - and avoid seeing people falling on television, I always avert my eyes.

Just here to say I fell down the stairs again last night. Really messed myself up this time! Can't walk, knee and ankles swollen and black, shoulders and arms also turning purple, lump.on my head.

Sigh.

I need to move to a bungalow!

Are you getting checked over @DinoLil? What a pain in the arse for you (literally).

i managed to break a toe in bed this week.

Hit post too soon. I hope everyone from a recent fall is feeling better. Reading this has been quite scary, in a way it makes me “relieved” I am unconscious before falls as I don’t get the scary experience of it, if that makes sense. Downside is I can’t try and protect myself. Really would love a stairlift, thr stairs are terrifying me atm.

I'm so sorry to hear this, what absolute bad luck......you're really suffering badly.
I think when I started this thread, I expected at the most a few replies but I've been amazed how many people have been in similar situations.
I know that I'm ascending and descending my stairs ultra carefully since my incident, but it only takes one lapse of judgement for it to happen again.

Sending you best wishes and support as you recover.

I alreasy commented on this thread saying how I have known two people in the past 6 months who have died from a stair fall, today I heard about the third! A relative of a close friend.

It’s shockingly more common than you think.

How does avoiding seeing people falling on television help, exactly?

Do you really need to ask?

Yes.