Dad fell 15 feet from a ladder yesterday

[Lumadar]

I was 30 feet away in the next room, eating lunch, and then I hear a God awful crash, slam, and instant yellowing and gasping for air.

I got to him within seconds and found him already bleeding all over the floor...but not sure where it was coming from. My dad is a tough guy. Vietnam vet... Marine corps, tough dude. I have never seen him even indicate pain before aside from when he threw his back out.

Here I find him in so much pain that he can't even talk to me, or recognize me. I tried to keep him still to avoid further injury, and my GF called 911.

It took about a minute before he was responding to anything at all I was saying, and honest to God I was starting to think he had sustained serious head trauma and/or brain damage. I was about to start panicking when he finally re-gained his breath (he had the wind knocked out of him, and his bell rung) and he was able to mumble a little bit.

Long story short, we rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance, and after 7 hours of testing he somehow managed to come home without a broken bone or internal organ damaged. He's so sore and banged up that I had to carry 98% of his weight while he "walked" literally 2 inches at a time.

Really hard day for me... weird seeing your Dad like that. Even weirder when I lost my other GF's dad, whom I was very close to, (RIP) to a fall from a roof just a few years ago.

Here's a little video of me summing up my day, and then I show the damage he caused when he fell.

YouTube - Fiesta Movement AGENT Mark Kleis -Update

[the other pc]

Damn, that must'a been a scarey.

Sure glad to hear he's going to be ok.



pc.

[MadOzodi]

Glad he managed to come away relatively well. Hope he has a speedy recovery. Keep an eye on him for the next couple of weeks just to make sure nothing weird pops up.

[JohnZ3MC]

I'd like to meet your dad.
He sounds like one tough, typical Marine. Tough as nails.
Give him a day or two to get back up to speed and I bet he's going to give that ladder a 'wuppin'.
-John C.

[Lumadar]

Originally Posted by the other pc

Damn, that must'a been a scarey.

Sure glad to hear he's going to be ok.



pc.

It was incredibly frightening. It's easy to take people for granted until something like that happens and knocks some sense back into you.

Originally Posted by MadOzodi

Glad he managed to come away relatively well. Hope he has a speedy recovery. Keep an eye on him for the next couple of weeks just to make sure nothing weird pops up.

Thanks, and will do. I was up till 5 AM keeping watch last night.

Originally Posted by JohnZ3MC

I'd like to meet your dad.
He sounds like one tough, typical Marine. Tough as nails.
Give him a day or two to get back up to speed and I bet he's going to give that ladder a 'wuppin'.
-John C.

Yes, he is one tough guy. When they had him on the stretcher he was already joking about how he is going to have to finish the paint when he gets home

[Picus]

I hope he's feeling better soon. I can't imagine how helpless you must have felt seeing him in such pain. I can't imagine seeing my dad like that. Tell him to take it easy!

[Accumulator]

Lumadar- Wow, that must've been quite a day!

Glad your dad's gonna be OK and that you were there to help him. Seeing the room in your video made the whole thing easy to visualize.

Yeah...household falls are something you gotta take seriously.

[wannafbody]

Your dad is very lucky. Several years ago my dad fell off the roof about 8 ft high and shattered his kneecap.

[Lumadar]

Originally Posted by Picus

I hope he's feeling better soon. I can't imagine how helpless you must have felt seeing him in such pain. I can't imagine seeing my dad like that. Tell him to take it easy!

Thanks, I really appreciate it. As of today he gaining some mobility again, but needs a walker.

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Lumadar- Wow, that must've been quite a day!

Glad your dad's gonna be OK and that you were there to help him. Seeing the room in your video made the whole thing easy to visualize.

Yeah...household falls are something you gotta take seriously.

It was a rough day. I lost someone close to a fall through a skylight a few years ago (GF's dad), so this was an unsettling experience to say the least.

Originally Posted by wannafbody

Your dad is very lucky. Several years ago my dad fell off the roof about 8 ft high and shattered his kneecap.

Indeed he is... the doctors couldn't believe he didn't break anything. Hope your dad is doing better!

[backwoods_lex]

I'm glad to hear he is ok .