A serious accident

[NFG]

Hi,

 

Take care if you see your GP, they are too keen to prescribe 'happy pills' these days & can often create more problems than they solve.

 

I agree with MattyF, go out with you mates and have a good few drinks, not too much!

 

Then carry on with your work, consider making your work safer, in a "that's not going to happen to me" manner.

 

Bon courage

 

 

N

[carlos]

i think " TIME " is your best friend here, it takes time for the shock to wear off and it time i believe the memory will fade and you will think about it less and less each day. if you feel it is effecting your safety at work then take time off to process, not sure the ins and outs of the accident but maybe go over safety systems etc to help build confidence in the fact that it wont happen again.

good luck with it and hope you are feeling better about it soon, but it will take time.

carl

[Dean Lofthouse]

I have never spoke about it before because I always thought it may be some macho thing, but now I couldn't give a monkeys.

 

When I had a MEWP accident in 2004, me and another lad came down 45ft when the mewp suddenly tipped over. I remember everything going in slow motion, I remember every single detail.

 

I had serious whiplash across my chest where I tore all the muscles with the jolt of hitting the ground. My passenger had broken ribs, leg, hand and head injuries, he started fitting, couldn't breath and I had to see to him.

 

After that I lost all confidence in my equipment, harness, ropes,carabiners....anything that your life depended on. I wasn't afraid of heights, I was afraid of equipment failure at height. To a certain extent I still am, I will never trust anything mechanical 100% and double check everything. I won't even let anyone lower or service any of my equipment, I check everything myself.

 

It took me around 4 years to get back into trusting my tackle and I only got there by forcing myself to go higher, farther out on limbs and to the point where I scared myself.

 

No-one ever new because because I never shared it with anyone, not even my wife and thats despite working with many many other tree surgeons who are friends.

 

I now wish I had and can see how silly i was by not doing so, all I can put it down to was pride. The only thing I can say is don't bottle it up, share it with as many people as you want.

 

Now there is no problem at all, I,m back to speed and if anything a little over confident, I have to keep reminding myself how fragile life is

[SteveA]

I witnessed a serious motorbike accident years ago.... the rider wasn't wearing a helmet and was probably doing 60/70mph in a 30mph urban area. He missed me and my mates by inches and wacked into the kerb just in front of where we were walking.... he got flung over the handlebars and hurtled into a car park wall.... from that point he was like a doll spinning and rolling down the pavement for 25m.

We ran up to him and it was serious, mostly head injuries. None of us moved him because of the risk of a broken neck.

Five minutes later his breathing was getting worryingly quiet/shallow with increasing gargling sounds (blood in his airstream).

I decided to move/cradle his head slightly backwards which helped relieve the blockage.... eventually the ambulance arrived.

 

He had emergency surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain and was out of hospital within a month - not in perfect condition, but certainly a very lucky person!

 

It took months to get the thing out of my head.... it was like a slow-motion movie on repeat. I still remember every detail

 

Talking to friends & allowing time to ease your mind worked for me.

Personally I don't trust GP's with mental health issues, or therapists.... but I guess that depends on if you have a good GP?

[leswold]

Good post Dean & well done.

[SteveA]

Dean... it's a weird thing how everything seems to happen in slow motion - I guess it's something to do with an adrenaline release to deal with surviving a life threatening situation?

 

cheers, steve

[fen01]

You've got to get straight back to work, as soon as you can, something gentle perhaps but climbing anyway. The longer you leave it the harder it becomes and the great the lasting mental effects. Talk through the incident with people who were there, don't get drunk and STAY away from prescribed medication unless you get a second opinion from another GP.

 

It can be tough but don't bottle it up, but you need to get back work and that may take some courage. If you don't you will normalise avoiding climbing instead of returning to normal life. Ensure you get to participate in the investigation, you should be interviewed at least.

 

Basically, the above advice is taken from dealing with post traumatic incidents in Iraq and Afghan. Just my thoughts. Whatever, I hope you are feeling better soon.