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When avoiding accidents is a tall order
Because I have never taken much notice of the showbiz world, drama etc, I had never heard of actress Natasha Richardson – and had it not been for the unfortunate matter of her death from a head injury sustained in a minor fall on a ski slope, I expect I never would.
Even allowing for the usual media hype, it was clear Natasha was a major talent, well on her way to being rather special in her line of work, making the circumstances of her demise a tragic waste of a valuable life.
However, this tragedy does serve a small and vital purpose in that it brings home to us all just how easy it is to do oneself a major damage, and it is more or less impossible to lead a normal life without coming unstuck at some time. Everyone has accidents, and we now see that surviving or avoiding them can often be little more than a matter of good fortune. Bumps on the head are commonplace, and at this time you are talking to a specialist in that field.
Due to a rather basic genetic design fault, I am almost exactly two metres high in my Mickey Mouse socks – add on an inch and a bit of a shoe heel and the resulting figure is a shade more than the height of the average door aperture. This explains why the top of my head carries a selection of scars, and to my friends offers a slight understanding of an erratic personality.
After all, the mental function of somebody in a semi-permanent state of concussion is always going to be a bit odd. As far as I can recall (I told you!) I have knocked myself out three or four times by blundering into door tops, low beams, branches etc., and although it might be tempting fate to imagine this as a mark of cranial fortitude, I fear the truth is I have been pushing my luck for years, with the term “Heid Banger” virtually invented for my benefit.
As time passes there might be a degree of salvation for me as I shrink a little with age (we all do!) and an old-bloke stoop manifests itself to make me a little shorter, but I am trying hard not to do anything that might hasten that process.
A year or so back, while covering a show at Lanark Auction Mart, I was hurrying through the pens at speed trying to be in two places at once when my head collided with a low cross-beam carrying cables for something.
The next thing I knew was hanging on to the bars of an animal pen, aware of a small group of fuzzy faces, who seemed to be taking turns to ask if I was alright.
I had a really sore head and a small egg on my forehead for days, but the only residual effect was to encourage me to find a way of avoiding any recurrence.
Nowadays I wear an industrial bump cap anytime I am likely to lapse into “heid stottin’” mode and judging by the damage I have caused the current model, it has been money well invested. I still get caught out now and then, but on the whole life is a lot less painful than before.
Now all I need to do is find ways to avoid barking my shins quite so often, falling over, twisting my ankle and picking up things that are too hot to handle. I realise the answer to that is obvious and although I do try to be careful, breaking habits of a lifetime can be so hard.
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Weather for Selkirk
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 10 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
