I have always been really great at falling.
In fact my Dad taught me how to fall properly at a young age. He dressed it up as teaching me how to play Rugby but I reckon it was more than that. I would fall off walls, I would fall out of trees, I would fall off bicycles, I would fall off swings, in fact you name it and I’ve probably fallen off it one way or another.
I even practiced it for fun. I would gather up as many cardboard boxes that I could find, stack them up under a tree and jump off. I would deliberately fall off our Donkey pretending to be a cowboy getting shot. I also fell for real. Whilst learning to jump horses at the tender age of six I got catapulted out of the saddle and landed on a huge flint, right in the middle of my back. This could be significant. Later I came off in a thunderstorm and got dragged along by one leg, not once but twice.
Falling has been a big part of my life. When turned sixteen and was let loose on a moped, yes you’ve guessed it, lots of times, same on a motorcycle. I could trip and fall over a sixpence on the pavement. I played Rugby until I was twenty-one until one more injury convinced me that I should stop. I even auditioned for a travelling jousting tournament, which involved falling off at a gallop. Later I became an outdoor activities instructor. A really good occupation for falling, especially if you ski as well.
I had visited a consultant osteopathic surgeon after one particularly painful episode in my early 30’s. He spent a good hour trying to persuade me to have some of my vertebrae fused together and reinforced with a steel rod or two. I can still hear him warning me as I backed out the door, that I would be in a wheelchair by the time I was forty. That was all the motivation I needed to follow a life of adventure based in North Wales. I passed my 40th Birthday climbing in Nepal….I was back climbing within a year of my stroke. I was 59.
Every single year of my life has featured one or more falls. I should probably get an award for it. I don’t even have to make a deliberate effort. It just happens.
Needless to say when young one recovers fast. As the years roll by it becomes harder. Three or more falls in a year and most of that year is gone in recovery. Getting older means the manner in which you fall changes. New things get damaged.
Here’s the thing. In all those falls, which run into the hundreds, I have never broken a single bone. I bounce. I tear muscles and ligaments, I dislocate joints. About ten years ago I was at the Deeside Ice Rink, dragged my left toes, went down like a sack of spuds and dislocated my shoulder. Two attendants rushed to me, they looked a bit pale and concerned. I turned away, popped my shoulder back in and all was well. I was okay, not sure about them. It went back in a treat, not surprising, seeing that it had already been dislocated a couple of times kayaking on the River Dee.
The trouble arises when it’s not just limbs that are affected. The neck is a danger zone. So of course I’ve damaged that over the years. This naturally affects balance, making falls more likely. I first became really aware of a persistent neck ache around 2009 on the right side of my neck involving C3 or C4 beneath the capitis and cervicis muscles. This went on for about 7 years, gradually increasing in pain over time and after each fall. It was probably initially caused by some residual whiplash when involved in a head-on collision around 2003. I went to the Doctor on numerous occasions, only to be told that there was nothing they could do about it. From 2016 to 2018 I experienced more falls than usual.
In early November 2018 I spent 11 days in Hospital. I had had a Cerebellar Stroke.