The last event in an elderly person’s life

By Sunil Saxena

“A fall is the last event in the life of an elderly person.” My father’s doctor was not trying to scare me or my father. He was talking from experience.

My biggest nightmare is my father taking a hard fall and breaking his hip bone. How is he going to live after that? He would be confined to his bed for the rest of his life.

As it is my father is extremely prone to falls. He once had to be admitted to the hospital because he tripped over a stone and broke his shin bone. At that time, he was much younger. We blamed it on chance.

The next time he fell was less of chance but more of balance. It was early morning, and he was stepping out of the bathroom when he slipped and fell. His efforts to break the fall made him put his entire weight on the left hand.

Nothing happened to the wrist or the elbow. But the impact broke his left shoulder bone. Lifting him was not easy. He was all of 80 kg, and I had to lift him from the waist. There was no way I could put my arm under his armpit and raise him. A steel rod had to be inserted to make the shoulder operational again.

After that my father started using a walking stick, something that he was averse to earlier. But I could see him wobble even when taking the help of the stick. The doctor suggested that he should start using a quad walking stick.

I bought him one. Even that did not save him from falling. This time I was really angry. He had no business going to a room where the air conditioner was being fixed, and the AC mechanic’s tools were lying on the floor. He probably skidded on the hammer and crashed into a side table before collapsing on the ground.

The fall was really nasty. His forehead that had caught the edge of a side table resulted in a deep cut on the forehead. There was blood flowing down his face. He could not even open his eyes, and was moaning when I found him. I was not sure if the injury was limited to the forehead or did it extend to his rib cage. Fortunately, no bones were broken but it still It took him several days to recover from the fall.

Enough was enough. Despite his protests, I bought him a walker. The walker is far more stable though it is ungainly and difficult to steer through narrow spaces. There has been no accidents after that.

But the doctor’s words continue to echo through my head.

Recently, I cam across an article on the website of Harvard Medical School. According to it, “About 35 percent of people over age 65 fall in their homes at least once each year. That figure increases to 50 percent for those ages 75 and over.”

The article further pointed out, “Most of the resulting injuries are minor, but falls can also cause major lacerations, fractures, head trauma, and other injuries that may lead to hospitalization, disability, nursing home care, and premature death.”

This is a reality I must learn to live with.

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