Mafalda

The holidays bring a sad memory for me. Two years ago my husbands stepbrother ( not close ) and his wife came for Christmas Eve dinner. We see them only on holiday , lovely couple. Like usual we drank a few bottles of wine with dinner and everyone went home. The next morning we were told that she was at the hospital in a coma from a head injury. All kinds of stories we flying , did he beat her ? Obviously not a sudden thing since she was a very healthy 44 yr old. Well as the week went on we learned that she was going down the stairs to get a glass of water and fell down and hit her head on the tile floor. She got back up and stumbled to bed and passed out. Apparently her husband didn't notice anything unusual ( he was also drunk) and she had fallen down other times while drunk. It turned out she had a drinking problem which I had never suspected. When she Hit her head she got a fracture And her brain was swollen. He didn't realize she was unresponsive until the next morning. They took her off life support a week later. She was a beautiful , lively woman. I always wondered it could happen to any of us , but if they weren't drunk maybe they could of done something ? I know many of us are dulled to pain when we drink and we may not be aware that we have suffered great injury so please take this as a cautionary tale , if you hit your head really hard you might need to get it checked out.

Ok I'm off to start preparing my holiday dinner for tomorrow. I bought myself a bottle of sparkling cider to not feel so left out. Wish me luck !

FreeFall

That is a sad story. Thank you for sharing, it may save someone's life. I bet a lot of alcohol related deaths were 100% preventable. We do stupid things when we drink, and some pay the ultimate price. I hope you enjoy your holiday dinner and your sparkling cider!

Threshold

Several years ago my mother in law fell down the stairs drunk and broke her neck. Luckily she did not end up paralyzed, but she spent the next several months with her head bolted into a cage.

After a few more falls, her daughter moved her bedroom down stairs and had the upstairs of the house essentially locked down.

She died this spring as a direct result of another fall, broken arm needing surgery to set it. Due to emphasema she did not recover.

There are so many ways alcohol can cripple, maim and kill.

TTBABP

I am so sad that that tragedy ocurred but thank you for sharing the story - it will certainly help to keep me on the striaght and narrow.

GOod luck. Enjoy your sparkling cider!

sugarbear1

So sorry. I heard a similar story last night....

Wastinglife

I have had countless falls whilst inebriated that could have resulted in serious injury. I have been knocked unconscious at least twice that I know of. I have tempted fate enough and tragic stories like these really hit home. Thanks for sharing.

Kevah

There was a time I fell into a bathtub backwards, with water in it. I cracked my head on the soap dish attached to the wall. I do not remember the rest except my husband picking me up out of the water. If he had not been there, I may not be here. And it still didn't faze me. It still wasn't my "bottom". Thank you for the reminder. I am so sorry for your loss of your friend, even if you weren't close. On a brighter note, I do hope your dinner party goes well

renaldo

So sorry about your relative.

It reminds me of the Richard Thompson song "Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?" It's a generic song about living the fast life, but part of me says that it's about Sandy Denny, his former bandmate, who fell down the stairs when she was drunk and suffered a brain hemorrhage.

I've had a concussion myself, riding a bicycle under the influence. Same thing happened to my sister. As they say, "one foot in the grave and the other in an oil slick."

Pondlady

My uncle has a lady friend and they've been together over 30 years. Her x-husband fell down a flight of stairs while drunk and died. He was a very successful patent attorney and lived in a beautiful water front home.......so much to enjoy, but couldn't escape the bottle.

Enjoy your holiday meal and sparkling cider....think I may get some myself to pour in a holiday goblet!