I took this photo in spring on the dyke of the Pitt River in Maple Ridge. The water was dead calm and gave a mirror like reflection of the old rusty barge moored near the shore.
I have run into many different situations in my line of work and because I am working in people's homes every day, I am bound to see a little bit of everything eventually. I have been witness to several falls over the years and on Monday there was another one. The elderly gentleman was approaching the bathroom door where he was going to peek in to see my progress in stripping his wallpaper. He no sooner asked me how it was going when I hear a crash and an exclamation. I turned to see him fall onto my toolbox and as he was half sitting on the edge of it, he was fighting to grab the railing of the stairwell immediately behind him. I dropped my tools and ran to his assistance, steadying him while he regained his footing. He was finally able to stand upright and wandered into the kitchen with a distinct limp. He muttered that he was OK but I was not sure. His wife came on the scene to see what the commotion was and assured me that this had never happened before. He pulled up his pant leg and revealed a large swollen bump just above his ankle. He told us that he had bumped his leg a few days ago and it was painful, and just now, his leg had just given out on him. His wife got him some ice and soon he was settled down.
This would not have been too serious except for the fact that he came so close to tumbling down a full flight of stairs, backwards.
I had to give CPR once on a fallen customer and I did not want to repeat that experience. When I was done the job on Wednesday, he was just fine. Whew!
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