In too much of a hurry to be careful three weeks ago, I took a nasty fall and have felt the effect of sprained ribs almost every moment since.
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Picture if you will, a middle aged, jeans-clad mum with an imminent deadline, busily searching for an important artistic item to add to her youngest daughter’s costume for the upcoming Primary School Musical.
Knowing the long laid aside creation she seeks is neatly packed in a parcel up high in a small storage room walled with shelves, she chooses to avoid the delay caused by collecting the stepladder, and instead climbs the shelving, using hands and feet to balance crouched up against the ceiling.
A treasure trove of props and decorations greet her, way up there.
Vines by the crate load from Peter Pan, medieval looking boxes and bunting from Robin Hood, and the jackpot; a bag of skeletons, witches hats, cobwebs and spiders from You Can’t Judge a Spook By it’s Cover.
Searching deep into the stash, the mum wonders hastily if she has donated the coloured spheres to another worthy cause, when eureka, there they are!
A bag of hand-painted polystyrene blood shot eye balls!
Mission accomplished, and with her next task now in mind, our mum simply takes one big step down onto the tiles for her descent.
At which point there is no floor beneath her, as she has climbed well above stepping height.
No floor, no balance, nowhere to go but down.
Our mum crashes backwards against shelving, trying to catch herself with an arm, but ultimately slams the right side of her back into the timber, then falls forwards winded.
That mum was me at my worst, doing exactly what I would growl at my daughters for even contemplating.
The bruising and swelling showed up in the first 24 hours, but the real pain took a few days to set in.
I’m not sure if it was just the pure relief of having not done more damage that got me through the first week, or simply the slow burn nature of such injuries.
Soon I was in agony just opening the car door and lifting heavy wet washing was a bridge too far.
Lesson learnt. Professionals seen. Promises made.