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Justin's Life

Welcome to my new blog. I plan to write about all sorts of things here, my life in Spain, ineresting things and ideas I've come across, places I've visited and so much more. Hope you enjoy it and please leave comments as your input is always appreciated.

Hard floors, not so hard head
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 @ 6:43 PM

It's all too easy to forget when you feel comfortable with life just how vulnerable we really are at the end of the day.  Reality hit us in the face last weekend...and it was quite a smack.

It all started as a perfectly normal day.  We were at a friend's house on Saturday morning all heading out to have some churros for breakfast.  A nice relaxed morning and looking forward to spending a nice day with our friends.

Then disaster struck.  Our friend Jo slipped on the stairs in her house and fell on the floor hitting her head very badly.  We were outside at the time and the first we knew something was wrong was when Susan came out screaming to call an ambulance.

We rushed inside to find Jo lying on the basement floor beside a not insignificant pool of blood.

What a horrible scene it was.  To see a good friend in that position it was awful.  Luckily she was still alert but obviously in a lot of pain and very scared.  We rushed to stop the bleeding and tried to keep her awake and calm whilst the ambulance was called.

It seemed to take forever but it was at the house in about 15 minutes.

Luckily she was ok but she is obviously very frightened from the whole ordeal.  It really hit home how vulnerable we all are.  In the blink of an eye your life can change so drastically.

The most bizarre thing of the whole incident has to be that she only fell down about 5 steps, yet the impact with which her head hit the hard floor caused a 5cm gash, which is what caused the bleeding.

So just treat those marble floors and stairs with caution.  Both Susan and I have slipped on marble stairs before and it really does hurt, although we came off significantly better than our friend did.



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8 Comments


Jo said:
Thursday, May 12, 2011 @ 1:10 AM

If it wasn't for you I doubt would be alive today. I will never forget how calm and in control you stayed in such a horrific situation.

Thank you

Jo x


Justin said:
Thursday, May 12, 2011 @ 1:32 AM

I'm sure you would have been fine anyway. That's a tough head you have there!

Just don't pull a stunt like that again...I don't think my poor nerves can take it ;) I still keep getting flashbacks of the whole incident.

Hope the head is healing and you are feeling better. It was quite a traumatic event you went through.


Sylvia said:
Thursday, May 12, 2011 @ 11:42 AM

I also have a horrific story to tell about the hard floors, we were just going out for the day to shop in Marbella we were dressed in jeans coats and boots as it was December just after Christmas. We decided to walk the steps rather than take the lift, my daughter went first and as she took the steps, her foot slipped under her (we believe the cleaner had used some polish on them but were never able to prove it) she went up in the air and landed on her back, breaking it in 3 places. We called the ambulance and she was rushed to hospital, where we stayed over the New Year, she was flown home on an air ambulance and had 6 months recovery lying on her back. It was a horrific accident, but thankfully she has now fully recovered. Sadly to say she never visited the apartment again.


Angela said:
Thursday, May 12, 2011 @ 11:03 PM

I too had a nasty accident on our marble stairs and fell forward after tripping on a towel after coming out of the shower. Broke my jaw and ate mashed potato, carrots and swede and liquids for around 3 months until I could very slowly chew. Upside is I lost around 2 stone in weight! Numerous visits to the dental hospital for around 12 months until confirmed I hadn't done any permanent damage


michael said:
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 @ 7:15 AM

Marble is beautiful but when wet it is hard and 'black ice'. it is like walking through a minefield; one can't be too careful. After seeing a teenager's feet go under her as she descended wet marble steps I shudder at the thought of it happening to others. The poor girl; my heart went out to her but she recovered. She could so easily have broken her back.


Denise Hardy said:
Friday, October 28, 2011 @ 10:11 AM

I too had a bad accident at Alicante 'old' Airport by missing the top step at the side of the lifts that used to go down to Arrivals! I ended up going down all of them and landed right on my coxic (not sure how you spell that - but sure you know what I mean - lol). I ended up breaking my foot and was paralysed from the waist down for almost 6 months - it took me a whole year to be able to walk again without crutches. I tried to get compensation on the fact that there were no hand rails to catch on, but alas, as always in Spain - they say 'no can do'. Although at the time the Medical Team at the Airport were excellent and took me to their Medical Room and did what they had to do, then sent for the Ambulance.


karina said:
Sunday, October 30, 2011 @ 8:47 AM

Hi. Here s looking for Spain to retire in ( or any other sunny /warm place). Im glad to be warned ab the marble steps there. Old people and all that...
But another story: My old man fell out of bed at night some time ago and knocked his head on the corner of bedside table.
Just wanted to mention to anyone having similar experience, that there s frightening amount of bloodflow from head/scalp area. Its the amount of blood wessels there, not necessarily only the size of wound.
Dr here told him that only if the wound was caused by metal object ( wood in this case), did he need to have lockjaw jab?
Can any doctor out there back this up?
(My hubby is fine!)


Tony said:
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 @ 6:32 PM

A chap I know went over to Portugal recently to check his property ahead of a long term winter let.
Apparently he slipped on the marble stairs, broke his neck and died instantly.
Horrible situation - he was brought back for the funeral last week - only 51 yrs old - poor guy.
Take care out there !


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