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Original poster

Nana 90 years old fell in car park. Advice please

93 replies

Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:07

Firstly thank you for reading and thank you again for any advice.

My nana was 90 in June and doesn’t go out very often. She goes to bingo which she has loved for as long as I can remember and I’m 44. I’m her granddaughter. She goes to bingo 2 afternoons a week max sometimes not as many. Bingo lasts maybe 2 hours. One day a week my mum (her daughter) and I (her granddaughter) take her out for her shopping/groceries/little extras.

Today we went out and when we nearly finished shopping my nana said she wasn’t feeling well, she was just not wanting to take her coat off and felt a bit hot. I took my nana out to the car to have a seat. We were literally 5-10 feet from the car as I went to open the car door for her to get in. There was an island in between parked cars with a post up high saying how long we could be there before we were charged but cars were parked alongside it and my nana fell over it. I’ve never felt so frightened. Even now I xan see it happen in slow motion. I ran over immediately and as she’s had two knee replacement she isn’t very mobile. Luckily a man came over who must have heard me scream or see my nana fall and helped me lift her up to carry her to the car. On getting to the car I noticed she had a deep cut to her upper eyelid and cuts on her hand. She was then very sick I think due to the shock and was shaking due to this. After the shock wore off she’s feeling sore down the one side of her body where she fell. After she fell she was looking for her glasses but there were shattered. Before I left her tonight she had bruised swollen lip, black/bruised eye and bruised nose. I dread to think how bruised she will be tomorrow.
after a long cry and thinking what I can do to stop this happening again I’m looking for advice to whether to contact car park. This island is between parked cars in all directions, to the side front and back and I don’t think this is safe.
can anyone advise please. I would hate this to happen to anyone else.
thank you

OP posts:
Scutterbug · 10/10/2024 23:09

Did you not take her to A and E to be checked over?

ThomasPatrickKeatingsDegas · 10/10/2024 23:11

she needs to be taken to A&E to check for a head injury! Please tell me you took her to a&e. If she vomited that can be a sign of clot on the brain!

nocoolnamesleft · 10/10/2024 23:11

I'm more worried about whether your nan has been medically checked over.

spiderlight · 10/10/2024 23:12

Is she on her own tonight? Has she been checked over medically?

Stressedout150 · 10/10/2024 23:16

Please tell me you haven’t left her on her own - without getting her checked!!

Original poster
Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:18

She’s not on her own. She didn’t head her head. Her glasses hit off her eye causing the cut. Thank you for your concern ❤️

OP posts:
BashfulClam · 10/10/2024 23:18

Please get her some medical attention before worrying about the island.

Original poster
Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:19

*hit her head

OP posts:
Stressedout150 · 10/10/2024 23:19

So you didn’t get her medical attention then? Christ sake

Scutterbug · 10/10/2024 23:19

Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:18

She’s not on her own. She didn’t head her head. Her glasses hit off her eye causing the cut. Thank you for your concern ❤️

She still should have been checked over.

Miley1967 · 10/10/2024 23:21

I would get her checked over. Falls can really affect older people particularly your Nan's age.

2chocolateoranges · 10/10/2024 23:21

Hope your nana heals quickly. What a fright she must have got.

However, there is not much you can do about the island between the cars, lots of car parks have here islands in them. I presume it’s for pedestrians safety and to space the cars out evenly.

offyoujollywelltrot · 10/10/2024 23:23

FFS take her to A&E to be checked out.

outdamnedspots · 10/10/2024 23:23

You should have had her arm and been guiding her across the car park. Your fault, not theirs.

And how can broken glasses cause bruised lips and face? She needs to be checked at urgent care.

AnnaMagnani · 10/10/2024 23:26

Checked for what exactly? Presumably at age 90, Nana knows whether she is broken anything, hit her head or has any cuts that need medical attention. And that spending several hours in A+E to be told you have a bruise is miserable.

Original poster
Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:28

My nana was very adamant she was okay. We had good look over her and assessed how she was and how she has been since. If there was any indication of a head injury we would have taken to her to A&E immediately. She got a fright. We all did and the fact this could have happened which in my opinion is poorly constructed car park is a concern as my nana was lucky and I feel this is a hazard. It isn’t in walkways it’s behind parked cars and in front of parked cars behind. Randomly placed. I just feel this could have been avoided and it’s not just for elderly people in car parks but everyone. It was very poorly visible due to the proximity to parked cars and I feel this shouldn’t be allowed.

OP posts:
HotelCustody · 10/10/2024 23:29

Because she was sick plus the injuries, even though minor she should be seen at A&E.

The car park sounds pretty standard and not the priority.

Imahosy · 10/10/2024 23:30

Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:28

My nana was very adamant she was okay. We had good look over her and assessed how she was and how she has been since. If there was any indication of a head injury we would have taken to her to A&E immediately. She got a fright. We all did and the fact this could have happened which in my opinion is poorly constructed car park is a concern as my nana was lucky and I feel this is a hazard. It isn’t in walkways it’s behind parked cars and in front of parked cars behind. Randomly placed. I just feel this could have been avoided and it’s not just for elderly people in car parks but everyone. It was very poorly visible due to the proximity to parked cars and I feel this shouldn’t be allowed.

Stop going on about the flippin' car park or whatever. You can't possibly assess her medical status, of course she's going to say she's alright! Why are you concentrating on completely the wrong element of this incident??

shellyleppard · 10/10/2024 23:31

Op vomiting is a sign of possible head injury. Appreciate your nana insists she is okay but I would still get her checked out x

justasking111 · 10/10/2024 23:31

Nana was feeling unwell before the fall. Please keep a close eye on her for signs of a TIA.

wandawaves · 10/10/2024 23:35

Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:18

She’s not on her own. She didn’t head her head. Her glasses hit off her eye causing the cut. Thank you for your concern ❤️

How did she get a "deep cut" from her glasses falling off? Sounds like she hit her head.
She has grazes on her hand, how do you know she hasn't fractured her arm. Did she land on her bum? She could have a fractured pelvis. Hip. Ribs. Honestly OP she's 90 FFS. Bone strength is not great at that age.

pinkdelight · 10/10/2024 23:36

There are often bollards, posts, islands and such between rows so that cars don't drive straight through. It's not the car park that's made your nanna fall. She's very old and unstable and wasn't feeling well and could've fallen over anything or nothing, it just happened to be this. Really I agree that you should've been holding her arm or at least looking out for any obstacles. I imagine you do and feel bad so are looking to apportion blame but it's more important to make sure she's okay now and in future than to fixate on the car park.

MrsApplepants · 10/10/2024 23:36

What worries me is that Nana was feeling unwell before the fall. See if you can make her an urgent GP appt tomorrow. As for the car park, I don’t think there will be much you can do, so focus on Nana, hope she’s better soon

DeliciousApples · 10/10/2024 23:38

As others have says, her feeling unwell prior to the fall was for a reason. Could be that it's she's coming down with a bug or could be she had a mini stroke or something. I've fallen over before but never vomited because of it.

Like children, the elderly really need medical checkups and advice quickly when unwell.

They all say they "I'm fine done worry' because they have a fear of going into hospital 'in case they don't let me out again'. So expect resistance.

If she's determined not to go today phone the doctor tomorrow for advice.
I would defo want her seen by someone. Even if it's the district nurse or something.

Hope she recovers ok. Look up symptoms of strokes etc in the elderly so know them for future reference.

Original poster
Fingerscrossed11 · 10/10/2024 23:40

I’ve personally had a stoke and this wasn’t the cause of her fall but thank you for mentioning that.
if I thought for one moment my nana was at risk or had concerns needing immediate medical attention this would have been a priority to me and my mum (her daughter)
i have been in contact with her all evening after not leaving until late tonight and someone with her just now. I put on this post for advice as to who to advise to change this poorly made structure to avoid this in future for anyone else. She is well taken care of and there’s been no head injury as was investigated at the time as were her symptoms and how she’s been since. She’s not the first or last person to trip over but for me something which could have been avoided by poor construction is an issue.

OP posts:
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