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.

Not sure if it’s urban legend but I think it’s a sacking offence not to use the bannister rail at the Health and Safety Executive (reversing into parking spaces too). Happy to be corrected.

I tripped over the lip of stairgate in our old house. It is a horse shoe staircase. I grabbed the small bannister but in the momentum, i swung around it and dropped down to the floor below. I missed all 13 steps.

At the bottom, i couldnt get up so had to drag myself into the living room to the phone to call for help. My ds aged 3 at the time had to open the door for his granddad to let him in. An ambulance was called and it took morphine and gas and air to get me into the ambulance. More drugs than giving birth.

They found that i had twisted my spine so many degrees, and was only a few degrees from paralysing myself. It took months of physio to get my hips level again. The twist of the spine had caused one hip bone to sit an inch higher than the other.
I was so so lucky. The stairgate was removed and i am so careful now.

Something that could have changed your life does have a massive effect on you. Give yourself time. It will take a while but you will get to a stage where you dont think about the could haves and what ifs. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Years ago, my dad, half asleep, thought he was opening a cupboard and stepped backwards at the top of the stairs, and into oblivion.

I was awoken by a thunderous crash, and came to the top of the stairs where a naked man was crouched over moaning, and ordered back to bed by my mother.

He'd actually managed to smash the newel post clean off and landed with his head millimeters from a grandfather clock. Luckily, his only injury was a bruised coccyx, and his pride. The fact he wasn't even properly awake, plus luck,probably saved his life! Terrifying!

After watching The Staircase I completely understand your fear.

I was wearing slippers and can't remember how I slipped, but as I was falling, I knew my head would hit the wall at the bottom of the staircase where it curves round into the hall and I knew I could do nothing. I still wear slippers but never linger on the staircase now.

I’m so glad you are recovering it’s a horrible feeling. I slipped down an escalator once and broke four ribs, I’m terrified of them now and would rather take the stairs!!! Wishing you well.

You were very lucky.

I feel down my stairs 15 years ago and knocked myself unconscious- broke the spindles on the banister the whole way down.

I was very, very lucky. Looking back I can’t believe o didn’t get myself checkout out! I live alone and just went to bed with a very sore head!

Can I add wide-legged pj bottoms or lounging about pants, they were the culprits when a took a purler, banging my head on the wall and my shoulder on the side wall. It took a few days for all the pain to develop, my back was four days before it started to hurt. Glad you're OK.

This is terrifying. I appreciate you sharing your story as I think I need to take extra precautions with my stairs and get a handyman round. They are not made very well as part of the bannister is missing.

I fell down the stairs with my newborn! All I could think about in that moment was for her to land safely and softly on me. Lucky I didn’t hit my head on anything but the rest of me got badly bruised. I was just so thankful we were both alive!

I read in the news about this dad who tripped on a toy and fell onto his newborn who was laying on the floor. Sadly the newborn died

Sounds terrifying op. So glad you grabbed on and survived.

Me too. Mid 60’s. Fell off one step and broke my ankle 2 weeks ago. I’m going to be beyond careful from now on. It’s left me nervous about watching where you are going and being over cautious.

The socks on wooden stairs, lethal.
Staying in a different house and alcohol.
I slipped on my bum rushing and was in agony for months with my coccyx.
I probably broke it, so sore.
Alcohol has a lot to answer in my case when I was young, rushing up and down the🙄.

Basically you give yourself the Heimlich Maneuver, there are lots of videos on YouTube

Also if you do fall get yourself checked, I had no immediate pain when I fell, I was in shock and without DH I would have just got up and carried on but with unstable fractures all you need to do is move the wrong way and you can end up paralysed.

I always think about falling down stairs when I see some of the staircases in Grand Designs. Design over safety and hideously impractical!

I heard th guy who wrote My Beautiful Laundrette being interviewed a while ago (name escapes me at the moment). He's completely paralysed from the neck down, all he did was fall of his chair. I remember him saying that several of the people in hospital with him had just tripped in their gardens.

Almost 15 years ago I caught my heel in the hem of my long coat going down the stairs at work. Don’t know how but I managed to grab the handrail - wrenching my shoulder in the process - but it saved me doing a header. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. And I think about it a lot - still. No more high heels or long coats for me after that. I ALWAYS hold the handrail now.

So pleased you’re ok @Tolkienista

Choking is absolutely terrifying, isn't it. That feeling of trying to breathe but no air is getting in... I was once choking on a whole cherry tomato that I stupidly hadn't bitten into properly. Trying to scream for help but no sound seems to be coming out...all I could do was bang my arm on the table and eventually manage to gasp "OORH -EHRR!" to DH, who realised what was happening and brought me a bottle of water which I plugged from, this being enough to loosen the stuck tomato and enable me to cough it back up and out onto the plate. It was utterly petrifying at the time.

You have my sympathy. I went to London in October and visited the Royal Observatory, which is in a massive park on top of a hill (to anyone who's not aware!). I went down some steps to the toilets, I remember lifting my right foot to step down onto the next step, but it wasn't there! I then completely lost my footing, and feel down about 5-6 steps. Ended up in a heap at the bottom, bawling my eyes out, and in agony. To cut a very long story short, after x-rays on both feet, I discovered I'd fractured a bone in my left foot, pulled ligaments and my right foot had soft tissue damage. I've been off work since the end of October, due to go back next week!

You did well not to do any serious damage. I was covered the bruises everywhere, not just my feet. Arms, massive one of my legs, thigh! I must have had the bruises on my feet for a good 6 weeks in varying colours!

My mum fell down the stairs while she was pregnant with one of my sisters and carrying another sister of mine! We're all close in age. Thankfully all ok afterwards. She has lived in a bungalow since they sold that house and I can't say I blame her!

That was a terrible fright you got.
I hope you're not feeling too sore.

I also fell down the stairs when I was in my twenties living at home. Similar to yourself, I looked over the bannister to see if my Dad was in the kitchen. I wanted to see if I could get to the bathroom before him (one bathroom in the house!)

I realised that my foot had started to slip off the step, but luckily I had time to roll up into a ball and I bounced down the stairs from top to bottom. They were plain wooden stairs, no carpet. I was incredibly sore the days afterwards and my jaw started to click as well when I chewed anything. It never went back to normal. Start of tmj disorder.

I've been very careful on the stairs since. I always hold on, take my time and wear good footwear, no slippers and no long trailing pj bottoms.

I hope you feel better soon. Go for a check-up if you think you need to.

I tried to tell my classes about the potential for that kind of injury when they were rocking back on their chairs, of course they knew better,

My cousin tripped over her pyjama bottoms and fell down the stairs that way, breaking her back. She made a full recovery, but my poor aunt and uncle were beside themselves at the time.

Bloody terrifying. I want a bungalow now especially as I am getting oldish. In similar vein, a story which has stayed with me was a friend who was eating her lunch alone at home when she started choking and couldn't breathe. She told me she smashed her body into the sofa arm to dislodge it and fortunately it worked in time.