November 1, 2018

Episode 8

 

The Fall of '67

Another summer at Antonini & Sons. I had graduated to scaffolding work now, probably because most the guys were afraid of heights. I hadn't reached that stage...yet. We were working on one of the Regina skyscrapers, we were right up at the top, twelve stories off the ground. I was trying to get used to wearing a hard hat, they are pretty good at protecting your head from nasty bumps but having those extra few inches of head can cause a lot of odd head movements and neck jarring. Scaffolding consists of a lot of uprights and braces and decks, as you move from deck to deck you must duck your head to get through to the next section. It's those extra inches of head that caused the problem and I didn't duck quite far enough. I almost knocked myself out, which caused me to lose my footing. Down I went. Now, the anatomy of a scaffold is such that you have a number of hand grabs to catch if you should be so inclined. I missed the first few but my head hitting one of the cross bars slowed my descent enough to give me a few more opportunities, my elbow got in the way of the next one, then my knee knocked me out of position for the next, I was upside down by the next but my shoulder slowed me enough to catch a brace. I had succeeded at the task of stopping my fall, and as if I wasn't already disoriented enough, that stupid hard hat that started the event caromed of my head on its way down. When the little stars faded I realized now I had to recover enough to climb to safety. Easier said than done, my right elbow had taken too hard a blow to be of any use and the pain in my left shoulder hindered movement of my left arm. I would have to hang on for dear life until some one could rescue me. It was probably only a few minutes but it seemed like hours before somebody came. I had my chin anchored on the brace using it to help my arms hold me in place. My forearms were burning from the strain and my wrists were aching from pain. I would lose my grip soon, my mouth was chalk dust dry, I was about to give up. Where was everybody, where were the firemen with the net I could drop into. All sixteen years of my life flashed before me. I was delirious...then...all of a sudden He was behind me, could have been Jesus, probably one of his angels though, and I heard his voice, "You okay, buddy". I was afraid to move my chin from the brace but I could barely see him out of the corner of my eye, he had to be floating in thin air. I felt a gentle peace flow through my arms. Then... he spoke again, " You can let go, you're only an inch off the ground". Like I said, I was delirious. 

 

Have a great day

 

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