Recently I visited an elderly friend in Hospital. She had
fallen and suffered a hip fracture. My friend observed how quickly the fall had
taken place. She also said that she hadn’t been using her walker at the time.
While I am not elderly and I don’t use a walker, I was still
able to have much empathy with my friend. I have had several falls in my
journey with vision loss and certainly the split second speed with which such
falls have occurred is something with which I can identify. One minute you are
standing erect, and the next second you can be on the ground. Actually, my
falls haven’t been when I have been standing, but rather when I have been
rushing somewhere and not paying attention.
I’m not sure if it can be generalized that people with
little or no sight have more falls than people with full sight, but it does
seem to be the case for me. I don’t know anyone in my age demographic who has
had a fall, but I do know several individuals either partially sighted or blind
and who are younger than me and who have taken a tumble.
My worst falls, and by this I mean those that have resulted
in some form of injury, have taken place when I have been in a hurry, but also
when the ground has been uneven or there has been some unexpected obstacle in
my path. Actually I have only fallen on stairs once because I am very aware
that they can be a hazard. I am always, well, nearly always, careful to hold
onto a handrail and to place my foot at the back of the stair. My white cane is
a good guide as to the height of the steps. Because I use my cane in my right
hand, I usually look for a handrail on the left side. I must admit that this is
a bit inconvenient for others who are coming up at the same time I am going
down. At least, that is so in North America where the rule is to keep to the
right. I do better in Australia where keeping to the left is the norm.
I appreciate stairs where there is a handrail on both sides
of the steps. I like it when the steps are wide enough for me to place my foot
on each tread. I don’t like steps without a handrail or where the handrail is
not positioned to be functional - that is, where the rail doesn’t start
completely at the first step or perhaps does some fancy and possibly unexpected
curve before the bottom step is reached. I don’t like wooden railings with
splinters or metal railings with fancy bumps and spikes. I don’t appreciate
people who sit on steps. Too often they try to sit near the wall thinking, I
suppose, that they will be out of the way and not realizing that that is exactly
where I would like to be walking. When I am tired and my concentration is not
at its peak, I prefer to negotiate a ramp or use an elevator.
I am quite sure that people without sight will be able to
identify with much of what I have written here today. However, if you are one
of my sighted readers, I encourage you to pay attention to some of the various
forms of steps and stairs that you encounter. Also, if there is not an
accessible alternative to using those steps, perhaps you could be proactive and
bring this to the attention of those responsible. Falling down is not good at
any age, but the older we get the longer it takes for our bones to mend.
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