The thread title is a bit melodramatic perhaps, but I thought I'd mention my recent mishap as a cautionary tale to one and all. I have a large garden and was lucky enough to have a pair of Kestrels nest in a box I'd put up in a tree a few years ago. Last month I noticed the Kestrels were once again taking an interest in the box which, over the winter I'd installed a small video camera in the top. I put a ladder up against a branch near the box (something I'd done many times before I should add) and climbed up with a cloth in my pocket to clean the camera lens of cobwebs and other debris that had accumulated since I installed it. At the top of the ladder (it never happens when you're at the bottom does it?) The branch snapped and the ladder went one way and I the other. I suppose I could consider myself fortunate that I landed on soft(ish) grass rather than the patio, but as I'm now in my mid 60's I came down about 12 feet onto my right arm and shoulder. I do recall thinking to myself as I started the descent ' this is going to hurt'. That turned out to be a bit of an understatement. I wasn't knocked out, but after a few minutes lying there checking to see which limbs still functioned ok and which not, I managed to get up and limp back into the house. Long story short, I'd smashed my shoulder and upper arm bone pretty comprehensively and I had a long operation (they said about 6 hours) to fix me up Barry Sheene style with plates and screws to hold the bones back together. I do have X ray photos, but I'm not going to post them on here. Instead I've put a picture from last year with the Kestrel on the garden bird table . I'm sure plenty of you will either have experienced similar misfortune yourself or know friends who have. My biking season is therefore pretty much over before it had begun for 2023. I managed one ride before this incident occured out on the Street Triple to get the annual MOT test done (8 miles there and back) and that's it. Why put this on here? We all have accidents and misfortunes from time to time right? Well I live on my own now, my wife passed away last year and it struck me when I was lying there on the grass, that if I'd broken a leg or even my back I could have been there all day and all night. My house is quite isolated. I'd left my mobile phone in the kitchen so things could have been a lot worse. So my message is be careful out there everyone. I consider myself fortunate, the Surgeons seem to have done a great job of putting poor old Humpty Dumpty back together again, but its going to be several months before I can even think about riding my bikes again. Hence my participation in the Wordle thread now. It seems to be the highlight of my day. Lol.
You don't do things by half do you @johne ! Best wishes for a prompt and full recovery. At least you can watch the kestrels in the garden while recovering Get well soon buddy!
That sounds painful. Look after yourself, take your time and heal well. Don’t rush the healing process.
As far as I'm aware the metalwork stays in situ, unless something goes badly wrong of course. They did mention if the socket part of the Humerus bone doesn't get enough blood supply and effectively dies, then they would have to look at replacing the whole shoulder joint with an artificial one. Of course I'm hoping it won't come to that and my meeting with the Consultant yesterday was very positive and he thinks everything is healing up nicely.
Any accident is bad news but try to look on it as a warning of what could have been. Hopefully, with the right treatment and plenty of R&R you'll make a full recovery. I spent a good deal of my working life working at height on ladders and service poles etc. When I first started it was all free climbing to the pole top where you fastened your safety belt and commenced work, no problem. H&S changed all that some years ago with climbing requiring a full body harness and fall arrest lanyard, now to be engaged at the base of the ladder, followed by a tedious climb to the pole top where you fastened the work belt. Thankfully I never had a fall from height in over 42 years doing it day in, day out as second nature. Since retiring however I seem to have become much more aware of my own mortality! I've just spent a week doing some roof repairs on ladders an scaffolding with a degree of caution I would have laughed at a few years ago. As for metal body parts, I still have the large screws in my left hip after a bicycle accident in 2004. I was told they would be left in permanently as the bone grows round them to some degree and too much trauma would be caused removing them. I had the hip X-rayed for the following 2 years at 3 monthly intervals as there was the possibility of the bone in the hip joint dying due to the interruption in the blood supply caused by the break. Fortunately that never happened.
@johne: Take your time for your recovery. All the best for you. I hope you will have a good time with your "cyborg-status" soon.
Hope you recover soon and get on that bike. As someone coming up to my seventh decade, you do think more carefully about all sorts of things and its a good thing to be careful. However, getting on the bike is good for the mental health so hope you get on soon. Good luck mate
Could be an idea if carrying out a risky bit of work.....ring somebody.....ask if you do not check in with them say in a hour they investigate. Glad your on the mend.
So sorry to hear! I'm glad that the recent visit with the doctor provided positive news about the joint. May I make two points: I live next door to a healthcare provider and she said that the local emergency room is full of old guys falling off of ladders? PS. She said this when she saw me with a ladder on top of a roof accessing an upper roof. And I am in my early 60's! ha, ha Second: having a lot of experience with ladders on trees, I ALWAYS tie the top of the ladder to the tree securely. I use a "ratchet strap" (a nylon strap that feeds through a ratcheting buckle to tighten). No matter what happens, the ladder will not fall, and neither will I as long as I hold onto the ladder. Fall protection harnesses are the gold standard, but not practical for the odd trip up a ladder in the garden. Best of luck healing up!
Unlucky John. A cautionary story for sure, I wish you a speedy and full recovery. I did a similar thing putting up Xmas lights in a magnolia tree 2 years ago but was fortunate that I fell on soft grass without damage. I just missed our spiked top picket fence with my head….
Getting back on the horse! Its more than 6 weeks since my shoulder Op and the physiotherapy seems to be coming along nicely. I decided to have a short ride on the Street Triple. Just 4 miles there and back to fill up with fuel. Everything went well although I have a feeling if I overdo it in terms of distance, I might suffer for it later, so for now that's about as far as I want to go, but it was nice to be out on two wheels for the first time since early March. The NS400 with its low bars is another matter, but I have got it booked in for an MOT next Tuesday so we will see how that goes in terms of riding to and from the test centre. Again its only a few miles in each direction and I'm more worried about getting it covered in road muck if it should happen to rain.
I bet you loved every one of those four miles! Good to hear you're back on two wheels, whatever the distance.
@johne I'm a bit late to this, just a bit. Loved your sense of humour in the 1st post. Glad that things are looking up for you now. Take it easy, and enjoy the ride to the test centre, and have a celebratory drink upon your safe return home, with a pass certificate of course.
I had my first post op longer ride yesterday, with a mate on his Kawasaki W800. I say longer ride, it was still a round trip of less than 50 miles to a local watering hole and back, but it was satisfying to find the shoulder wasn't giving me too much bother. I consider myself very lucky to be able to ride at all less than 2 full months after the operation. In typical British weather style we did get wet when we encountered a heavy downpour en route tho.
