A few days ago I fell. Down the stairs. OMG. I fell down the stairs? OK, I fell down 1 stair. I missed the last stair going down an outdoor stairway of about 15 stairs and, in an instant, I landed on the concrete, hard. I laid there for a minute or two and assessed my injuries. It felt like no bones were broken but I was not sure. I was able to get up by myself, no need to call an ambulance.
What caused the fall? Was I drunk? High? Old age? Dementia? Alzheimer's? No. It was the sun. The sun? The sun made me fall? Yes, the sun caused me to trip and fall down. It was a sunny afternoon but a shadow totally obscured the bottom stair and I did not see it at all and tripped on it, causing the hard fall. This had never happened to me before. I was tripped by the sun.
Soon, the pain arrived. My left palm hurt and my left shoulder really really hurt when moving my arm. These were the parts of my body that absorbed the impact of the fall. The next day I went to Urgent Care, to see if I broke, or permanently damaged, my hand and/or shoulder. They did an x-ray. Fortunately, no bones were broken. It was only soft tissue injuries. And would likely heal. Whew! I was lucky!
So, I was tripped by the sun. And survived. The moral of the story? If you are older, be careful going down stairs when you are outside on a sunny day. And use the handrail if there is one. And pay attention to where you are walking, as trips and falls are all too common.
