My husband fell off a roof yesterday- broken pelvis

[SmileyClare]

Dh fell from a roof yesterday at work and has terrible injuries. An unstable break in two places to his pelvis and a broken arm. At the moment he's on an orthopaedic ward and can't walk and is in agony.

He's expected to have surgery in a few days on his pelvis. I'm absolutely worried sick about how he'll cope with the recovery (expected 3 months), him not working (self employed builder) and whether he'll ever be the same again.
I don't earn much and, we have teenage children.

I'd love to hear some positive recovery stories from others who have experience of pelvic fractures or just some advice from anyone. I'm sick with worry.

Ah I remember this thread, hope your DH is recovering

@SmileyClare
How are you and your dh and family doing ?

I'd just thought I'd update this thread, if anyone is interested! I'm still standing, this nightmare didn't completely break me

Still trying to put a brave face on but it's been really tough, probably the hardest six months of our lives. Dh is now walking (hobbling) about , can go for short walks although weirdly he's having a lot of pain and swelling in his knee now.

His physio thinks his pelvic fracture on the unpinned side has caused some misalignment. They're currently working on correcting his posture and gait in his physio sessions at our local hospital.

His smashed arm has been equally as difficult! It was actually re set three times. It was an awful injury which kept healing incorrectly and there were possibly some cock ups in how it was plastered in hospital
The last Op was in September where they rebroke the bones and pinned everything to a huge metal plate. Hopefully that's done the job at last.

He really wants to return to work but they are not prepared to have him on site until he's passed an independent medical. He has very little grip in his right hand right now. I am concerned about him, he seems very down these days and we are both very worried about money. He gets very grumpy these days if I suggest he takes some office work. He's just not his usual self.

His personal accident insurance didn't pay out unfortunately. We were advised to claim partial blame but it wasn't successful.
We've basically been relying on Universal Credit and my cleaner's wages so it's been very challenging.

I'd like to thank everyone who offered advice and support on here. xx

Thanks for the update OP,

Sending

Just read through all of this @SmileyClare- what a nightmare for you all. I used to look after people with multiple injuries so your post took me back to my younger days.
Good that he's recovering but it must be awful for him; having been so active before the accident. Wishing you all the best for the future 💐

I am really sorry for you both.

Many years ago a roofer working on my house fell off his ladder onto our stone steps and broke both his legs . After I called the ambulance he asked me to ring his wife to tell her (landline; before mobile phones) so she wouldn't have the horror of a call from a hospital. He was absolutely frantic about how she would react and said "Make sure she understands I am fully conscious and talking have no head or neck injury; those are what she has always dreaded most". It was a very hard phone call, the poor woman. So I have a lot of sympathy for you today..

  The good news is, all his broken bones mended and he  did get back to full time work.   I hope your husband gets operated on soon.

What a worry! this is my fear for my builder DH who's got all the life insurance going but basically if he breaks a bone, financially we'd have to push him off a cliff to recover.

Must get on to insurance today. Thank you for the reminder and wishing your husband a speedy recovery.

Thanks for your kind wishes. I'm hopefully things will continue to improve. Dh is finding it tough, he's not one for talking about his feelings much but I know he's fed up and missing his old life.

That must have been an awful experience 2bazookas. It still gives me a lump in my throat when I think about dh's work mate ringing me when it happened! "Clare he doesn't want you to worry but he's had a bit of an accident" are words you never want to hear!

I was also wondering about Personal Independence payment which I believe you can apply for online. Would do this as he has a disabilty now which affects his day to day living.

The website www.benefitsandwork.org which you can join for twenty quid odd has a lot of independent advice there is also free advice on there.

Otherwise the Citizens Advice too.

Sorry that wasn't quite the right link
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

Pip applications are quite long winded. However given your situation it sounds like it would be worth doing for DH.

PIP is not means tested and later on if DH can do limited amount of work he can do some hours and still be on PIP so it is the kind of thing that would help his recovery/and use the money to pay for things that would help

Thank you. I was advised to apply for PIP. I've filled out all the forms and provided medical evidence. This was just over three months ago, I was warned of a long wait before it's processed.
I've no idea how we stand when they give us a decision because obviously his condition has improved since I applied, and he no longer needs a wheelchair and is more independent now. He's been signed off work until December with a "fit for work" note.

It would definitely help to have a bit more money. I'm quite shocked how difficult it is for disabled/incapacitated people to get any help.

Your poor DH! Hopefully things can only get better. You have all had a terrible shock .Cant believe Insurance not paying up! Hope you get PIP sorted.Does he belong to a Union at all? They often have a fund for these sorts of scenarios .

Thank you for the update @SmileyClare
Wishing your dh continuing recovery.