The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A co-worker of mine was working outside one day at home. He was cleaning out his eaves troughs. He propped an extension ladder up against the house from the deck, and started to climb. His partner noticed the ladder was not set up correctly, so she yelled to him, "Wait! Fix the ladder first! You can't climb it at that angle or it will slide out from under you!" Annoyed that she would question his judgment, he proceeded up the ladder saying, "It's fine. You can fix it when I get up there if you want." She tried again, "Just wait until I get there to hold the ladder! I'll only be two seconds!" He ignored her. Knowing the inevitable, she ran up the stairs to the deck as fast as she could, but the ladder started to slide. With a helpless feeling, she looked up at him as he started to fall, one foot on the roof and one still on the ladder. He hit the deck with a thud! He spent the rest of a beautiful, sunny afternoon in the emergency room at the hospital. The doctor and staff checked him over from head to toe (because everything hurt) and x-rayed for broken bones. The hospital staff were not surprised at how he had injured himself (they see a lot of these cases), only that he wasn't more seriously hurt. "You are very fortunate," the doctor remarked. The incident resulted in a week off work, but definitely not for a good time. He spent four days in bed on painkillers and muscle relaxants. The rest of the week, he was barely able to walk around the house. Several weeks later, there was still a lot of pain and swelling in his ankles. He could not support any weight on his wrists and his right hand was too sore to grip anything. Months later, he still had scars from his fall. His partner stated it was an awful feeling to see a loved one fall off the roof, knowing that all you can do is watch, all the while thinking, "Why didn't he just fix the ladder? Why wouldn't he wait for help? Why did he have to be so stubborn?" It was all so unnecessary. As the doctor said, he was one of the lucky ones. We all know of people in other situations, who have not been so lucky.
