I left for work this morning as usual, about 20 minutes later than I should to actually be in time, got into my vehicle and started through the parking lot (I live in a condo) As I approached the building that’s right next to mine I saw an elderly woman leaning on a car that was parked right behind her building, just outside her back porch. I thought the way she was leaning on the car didn’t look quite right. She was facing the car, leaning forward with both hands on the hood. She was far enough away from the car that she was almost bent double which is why it looked like maybe she was having difficulty.
Meanwhile, I’m driving and wondering if she’s OK when I see her fall. :eek:
I pulled up right behind the car she was hanging on to and got out to see if she’s OK. She’s laying on the pavement, partly behind the car she was leaning on. I ask if she’s OK and she says no. I went over thinking I don’t know if I should move her or anything because she might have broken something.
After talking to her for a second I can see that she’s not really hurt, nothing broken, just took a wrong step off the curb and went down. I helped her to a sitting position and just about this time a man comes out of the back door of the closest condo.
I’m pretty sure that is her condo and the man is somehow related to her though he’s much younger than she looks. I’m trying to help her up but she’s not a small woman and really needs lots of help. I ask him to help and she tells me that he can’t help. This is when I realize that he’s walking very gingerly. Still he comes over to her and with me pulling and him helping a little we get her to her feet. Now she’s standing on the driver’s side of the car leaning a little and getting her bearings. She’s got a skinned knee but no other visible signs of injury.
He asks her to come inside and sit for a minute and she says “No, I have to go pay a bill.” I ask again if she’s sure she’s OK. She assures me that she is. I suggest that she stand there for a minute to catch her breath before she leaves and she agrees.
As I leave the man who came out to help thanks me. I got back in my van and continued on my way to work but was thinking that maybe I should have stayed a little longer to make sure she was really OK. She had somebody there with her but I still felt like I should have stayed longer to make sure.
Really the whole thing took probably less than 5 minutes but it sure got my adrenaline going this morning. I hope she’s not hurt any worse than the skinned knee.
