Let's Talk About Falling

946 words

7 minute read

I was around seven years old, and engaged in a serious game of original Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo Entertainment System with my brother when it happened.  My brother, though only four, was a Nintendo aficionado, and playing against him took intense concentration.  He and I were both on a large leather footstool, and I was kneeling.  

My body tensed up as I tried to make Luigi jump over a hole, and I fell forward off the ottoman - stiffly and face first like a tree being felled in the forest.  My face collided with no less than three shelves which held the television set, Nintendo, and boxes of our toys. 

My little brother just stared, silent.  Maybe, in shock.  He must've known what happened to me was serious, because he wasn't even upset that I'd managed to disconnect the Nintendo with my face.

I felt traumatized.  More afraid of the huge amount of noise I'd made, the possible damage to our Nintendo, and the giant mess I had no way of cleaning up.  I don't remember what happened after that.  Only what didn't.  Neither of my parents came to investigate the crash or ever asked that day if I was okay.

My entire face hurt.  I was sure it would turn into a massive bruise.  (It did, just a little, under one of my eyes.)

[Image: Me, at age 7, in a pink sweatsuit, kneeling on my sister's bed, smiling.  There's a very slight mark under one of my eyes where my face collided with all the shelves.]

Cerebral Palsy affects many things, including the ability to fall properly.  My header into the shelves was actually preferable to the way I usually went down.  Typically, I fell backward.  I remember, often, coming home from school with a goose egg from falling out of my chair and hitting my head.

Though I can't remember it, I'm positive I had to be taught how to fall correctly.  I know it didn't come naturally to me.  Spasticity means that I tend to go down hard and fast, and it never felt possible to go against my body's natural momentum and attempt to fall forward.  Usually, instinct is to break your fall by putting your hands out, but mine were usually full - Canadian crutches meant I couldn't often break my own falls.

When I was younger, slipping or losing my balance were the most common reasons I would go down.  The older I got, though, the more likely it was that I would crash and burn spectacularly due to one second of inattention.  When I was a teenager, I went to climb up the stairs to the main floor of the house.  I was sure I had grabbed the railing.  But instead, I grasped the air, and fell back into the wall behind me, so hard that I dented the plaster.

These days, most of the time, I know better.  I grab for anything I can to slow my momentum.  I do anything I can to ensure I fall forward rather than backward.  And in the moments when a fall seems inevitable but can be avoided, I yell for help and my sis is there to give me a hand.

SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO:

- Practice falling:  This sounds weird, but the more you can train your body's muscle memory in what it feels like to fall forward, and break your own fall, the safer you will be.  So get a mat, and practice from a more reasonable height than fully standing.  Start on your knees and practice putting your hands out in front of you to catch yourself.

- Be available:  If you have a child or another family member with CP, recognize that their balance will be affected.  Offer to help and be open to what your family member needs.  My youngest brother often asks, "What can I do?" which works really well for me.  Sometimes, giving us the assistance it looks like we need actually throws off our balance even more, so be patient (it takes a lot of concentration to talk and do something that could potentially result in a loss of balance) and stay calm.  We are nervous already.  Nerves impact our spasticity and make it even harder to move.

- If we fall in front of you, try not to freak out and please don't laugh:  It can be scary and/or unnerving to witness a fall.  For people with CP, though, it's just a part of our lives.  Please don't laugh or make jokes at our expense while we are on the ground and don't gawk and point asking everyone around you if we are okay.  This has been the very best example I have come across to the reaction I prefer when someone sees me fall.

- When possible, take the mobility aid that offers you the most security:  If you are like me, and have a couple different mobility aids to pick from, always choose the one that offers you the most security.  Family and friends, understand that outside factors like weather (rain or snow), linoleum floors, and crowds are all potentially difficult to navigate through, and might mean we would prefer wheelchair to crutches, walker to walking unassisted, etc.

Falling is a part of my reality as someone with CP.  It's just a fact of life that our bodies don't listen to what we want them to do.  But if we can feel a little more prepared, secure and like we can trust those around us to stay calm and offer help when needed, it can make things a whole lot easier.

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