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Watch Your Step

‘Tis the Season For Slips and Falls

Starting with this first day of winter we need to be mindful of every step we take. We walk outside with a certain confidence but it only takes a second to miss a patch of ice. Black ice hides in plain sight.

We think we will never fall, but the truth is it can happen to anyone. It is safer to assume you will fall and take every precaution to avoid doing so.

We can be one misstep away from a serious injury that will wreck your life. I spent weeks in neuro intensive care with a man who fell on ice in winter and suffered severe brain damage as a result of hitting his head and lying there nearly freezing depriving his brain of oxygen for too long. Even minor injuries will sideline you for months.

Hazards abound indoors, as well. I once failed to turn a light on in a dark hallway and tripped over a box I couldn’t see a week before Christmas. I needed surgery to repair my broken functioning right arm. This basically left me without useful arms for the rest of the winter. It was an exceptional situation because most people don’t have brain injuries that render one of their arms nearly useless. But I dont know anyone who would care to have a limiting injury. It can happen to you.

Winter is long. It is much longer and more miserable if you’re hurt.

Enjoy your holidays and winter sports if you’re so inclined, but please be careful. Accidents happen in the seconds we are unaware we are in danger.