Charlie had another fall on Saturday, trying to get from his armchair into the wheelchair. Not hurt at all thankfully, but totally unable to get up. He fell at about four o'clock, and I struggled for about half an hour to get him up but it was hopeless - he's over 16 stone and I am a little old lady! No neighbours around to help, so I had to call for an ambulance. They said they'd get there as soon as they could, but they were extremely busy, so I knew we'd have a long wait because obviously they have to give priority to serious cases. So, there he lay on the hard tiled floor. They rang three times during the evening to say they hadn't forgotten us, but there were no ambulances available. Finally, at 11.30, a First Responder arrived. Luckily, he was a young, big, strong guy who just about managed to get Charlie up on to the bed - if he hadn't managed to do it, we'd have had to wait for back-up. He did some checks and paperwork, and by this time it was gone midnight. He'd said that the correct procedure would be that we should wait for the ambulance so the paramedics could do checks he wasn't qualified to do, and that as Charlie had been on the floor for over 6 hours they should then take him to hospital for further checks. But, he said, if I wanted I could cancel the ambulance. So of course I did. By this time all he wanted to do was go to bed, not wait goodness knows how many more hours for the ambulances to finish dealing with all the drunks on a Saturday night. Nearly need an ambulance myself after all that!
How frightening that must have been - I read about how over-stretched the NHS is now but to have to wait for over six hours for even a First Responder? That is really bad and you must have been so worried. I am really lucky in that the nearest ambulance station is not too far away and if called out they turn up very quickly. How is Charlie now? Falling is not the most pleasant thing at the best of times, and being stuck on the floor unable to get up makes it even worse. I do not blame him for not wanting to go to the hospital on a Saturday night as he would probably have been stuck on a trolley for hours waiting to be seen. I hope he has recovered from the fall and that you have recovered from the worry. xx
I'm so sorry Janet. Charlie must have been so uncomfortable lying on the hard floor, and you must have been worried to death about him. Having to wait an hour or so is bad enough, but for all that time, it must have been quite distressing. I hope you are both feeling a little better today.
He's fine now, thank you - been able to watch the golf as distraction! The worst part was that, understandably enough I suppose, he wouldn't accept that he should just lie there and wait for help - he kept trying to get up, which was putting him in danger of falling back and injuring himself. I shall have to keep on lifting my dumbbells and try and build up enough strength to lift him myself!
