I had an appointment to visit my doctor and as I was leaving his office I tripped off the curb in the parking structure and took a very hard spill on the right side of my body with my arm tucked in close to my chest. As I landed, I heard a loud "crunch" followed by a loud scream that I just couldn't keep in.
Rolling onto my back, I was on the cold pavement bracing the right side of my body in some excruciating pain and wondering first, if anyone saw me fall? And secondly, if I were hurt and or broke anything? If memory serves me right, the wonderful elderly lady on the far left of the picture was my first responder. She came to my aid and told me not to move, but to just lay there until we could get some help. "Help?" I was thinking. I just wanted to get off the ground and try to save myself from more embarrassment! Seconds later, four other people show up, (The two on the left side of me and the other 2 on the right side of me,) and they all are doing their part in assisting my "Man Down" moment! As these wonderful strangers were figuring out what to do with me, I remember the gentlemen on the back row on the right of picture saying "Brah, I would help you get up, but I just had back surgery and I no can." I had to crack a smile when he said that. Anyway, someone decided to call for an ambulance. "Ambulance?" I thought, "How much is this going to cost me for an ambulance to come and pick me up in a parking lot structure?" I insisted that we cancel the ambulance, but they ignored me. The last responder to show up was the young lady who is on the right side of the picture. When she showed up she was asking me questions like if I hit my head, did I feel any tingling, am I dizzy and are you just a clumsy idiot? I'm kidding! She didn't say the clumsy part, but by her questions I knew she was from the medical field and as it turned out she was. After a couple of minutes lying there, I sat up with the help of the elderly lady who was my first responder and she put her knee into my back to keep me from falling backwards. How thoughtful was that! About 4 to 5 minutes later the men and younger lady helped me up to my feet and they cancelled the ambulance believing that I didn't need one. I have to give these people my ALOHA and I wish I knew how I could reach them just to say thanks and give them some kind of gift just so they know how much I appreciated their help. They could have ignored me and kept walking, but they didn't. So what was the end result of my fall? I went to my primary physician Dr. Trpkovsky at Straub and he hooked me up with some X-rays and it turns out that I broke a rib and have a fracture in my elbow.