The Fall

Doris, sunbathing pussy cat, in London on Saturday while we're  visiting Robin's sister and her family.

Today it's only just warm enough to sit outside in the pub by the river at Bickleigh .  I order food at the bar - cheese and pickle doorstop sandwich for Robin and haddock fishcakes for me. While we wait Robin wanders down to the river and through the gardens and round the car park. I take photos on my phone and watch a family at the next table - both parents taking it in turns to follow their toddler around who gets far too close to the edge river for my liking.

Robin eats half his sandwich and I wrap up the other half in a serviette to take home. While we wait for the coffee and his piece of cake to arrive he says he'll have another walk around. I watch him in the gardens and then he waves and says he's going round the corner to the car park. The coffees and cake arrive. I drink mine.The family with the toddler leave.

I know immediately when Robin's been gone too long. I get up to look for him. At first I don't see him  in the car park. Then I see his head just above a low bush  on the path at the entrance to the pub. He's on the ground. A waitress is with him and a young man and the mother with the toddler is kneeling beside him. She's trying to help him get up into a chair the waitress has brought out but he can't get his legs in a good position.

He keeps saying,

 I want to get up I want to get up.

I say,

 We are going to help you get up, but you have to try and get on your knees.

All four of us can't get him anywhere near the chair.

The mother with the toddler (who is now in the car with his father) seems to know what she's doing. I  ask  her if she's a nurse or a doctor. She says she's an OT. What are the chances of that - exactly the right person. 

The waitress says,

Shall we call an ambulance?

The OT mother says, not yet, and  I keep thinking we have to get back for the Speech and Language therapist who is coming in half an hour and I haven't got her phone number to cancel her.

And then the miracle happens and somehow Robin manages to get on his knees, saying 'sorry' all the time, and we all haul him up onto his feet. The OT  says,

Sit down and get your breath.

 But Robin says,

No I don't want to,

 and starts limping off saying 'thank you thank you.' 

I thank everyone too and then two minutes later  Robin is drinking his coffee through a straw and I'm feeding him slices of the coffee and walnut cake. And the river just keeps on flowing past us.

Back home it's clear Robin fell on his left side, he has some tiny grazes on the side of of his leg near his hip, and his knee and his hand and above his eyebrow. He's stiff and  his left arm is sore  - as bad as his right now as far as using it is concerned.

 Because I wasn't there and didn't see what happened I don't know why he fell - maybe he tripped on the step, maybe his shoes are too big -  the velcro slip-on ones - I've been suspecting that for a while. He has had 3 other falls in the last few months.

Maybe I should have taken him to A&E to check he hasn't broken anything.  But what I know now is that he can't be left on his own at all. Even now he just called out as he came down the stairs from his office - said he thought he would fall. I've just helped him get into bed. He can't pull the covers up now.

Thank goodness the Community nurse is coming tomorrow. She'll know what I should do.