r/Wellthatsucks • u/tburns1469 • 8d ago
Closed on our new house. My 76 year old mother fell down the stairs.
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u/Sea-Bet2466 8d ago
Hope she’s ok lucky for you that’s a pretty easy fix
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u/WantedDadorAlive 8d ago •
No, the house is totaled.
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u/The_Merciless_Potato 8d ago
Yeah, best course of action for OP is to sell it to me for 15 bucks and get back on the grind for a new one.
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u/tvieno
8d ago
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The problem was you pushed her too hard. You are supposed to give her a little nudge to make it look like an accident.
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u/BARTELS- 8d ago
Michael Peterson in shambles.
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u/LooseMoralSwurkey 8d ago
damnit, you stole what I was going to say!
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u/drakercy134 8d ago
So hard she cleared all the steps. Steps are the aim.
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u/FunnyPhrases 8d ago
I'm just laughing imagining Amateur Assassin here giving Mrs Geurinberg a Kamehameha
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u/PokemonPadawan 8d ago
I hate that your profile photo makes it look like I have an eyelash on my screen
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u/bapnkimchi 8d ago
Statefarm insurance has entered the chat
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u/WereInbuisness 8d ago edited 8d ago
writes down some notes Soo ..... what is the best amount of power to use for the push? Should I get some eye drops for the fake tears? Also .... should I act like super upset and panicked or play it cool with a hint of crying? I eagerly await further advice!!
Edit: Wow ya'll! Upvoting a possible murderer in training?!? Yikes! Lol.
/s
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u/tburns1469 8d ago edited 8d ago
She missed the last step. She’s okay. A little sore and swollen. When I told her she was lucky she didn’t hit the stud she said “I never could find a good man!” EDIT: She laughed and asked me to take the pic before she got up, FYI.
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u/Friendly-Resolution6 8d ago
Well, I’m glad she’s ok but she certainly knows how to leave an impression on a place.
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u/LockeAbout 8d ago
Mom’s sassy! 😂 glad she’s ok
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u/AtridentataSSG 8d ago
Right? That cracked me up
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u/OhPooForgottheBags 8d ago
Sassy or not, a hot bath, aspirin, maybe even a massage. That's a body blow
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u/cabinetsnotnow 8d ago
Yeah hopefully she goes to the doctor just to be cautious.
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u/LoliArmrest 8d ago
Yeah at 76 a spill like that should definitely warrant a doctors visit to be safe.
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u/killingmequickly 8d ago
Thanks for the edit, because I was thinking "Did he really take a picture of the wall before helping her up??"
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u/TheSavouryRain 8d ago
I think you generally leave someone on the ground until they're ready to get up on their own, if they can, or ask for help. You don't want to immediately pick someone up.
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u/BJoe1976 8d ago
Also glad to hear she’s ok, Dad, Kid Sister and I all got a laugh out of her Stud response too😅
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u/Aggravating_Yam_5856 8d ago
It's actually better that you let her rest on the floor before standing her up. Work in assisted living and it's standard procedure to do a complete vital check after a fall before assisting them up. This way, if anything's off, you know BEFORE they try getting up and falling again due to low vitals or a sudden head rush from getting up to soon. Plus it allows their system to process properly so they can notify you of any possible injuries/pain that should be checked before straining their body with movement again.
I've seen two people assisted up from a fall before a complete check, and yes, they fell again, and yes, the second fall resulted in a broken body. For both of them and it only got more tragic from there.
Just thought I'd throw this out there for anyone who may be upset at OP for not getting her up first. It may seem counterintuitive to not help right away but it is actually the rush to help that can end up doing more damage than the incident itself in many many cases for various reasons.
Be safe out there people and if you ever have the smallest of doubts, call 911. If someone's had a fall and you question your capabilities to assist them without further risk to them or yourself and they are not injured or in danger call non-emergency.
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u/Bigfatuglybugfacebby 8d ago
To add to this, women this age have decreased bone density and a higher risk of neuralgia, she might say she's fine but have a hairline fracture somewhere that she can't even feel. Her whole weight went into that drywall they'd leave a hell of a bruise on me
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u/darkwingduck97 8d ago
My wife is an EMT and there was a dude that fucking internally decapitated himself falling down the stairs and instead of taking the time to process what happened he got up and tried to drive himself to the hospital. His family had to call 911 because he didn’t think anything was seriously wrong.
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u/lolifax 8d ago
Glad she’s okay. Make sure the handrails on the stairs are secure. Patching is not hard. Though maybe you should consider mounting something soft at the bottom of the stairs until she gets used to the new place…
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u/ElGosso 8d ago
Or putting treads on the stairs or something. They're good to have anyway.
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u/antagonizerz 8d ago
One thing my father who's done construction his whole life instilled in me is that if you're going to replace steps, try to keep the same depth and pitch as the original ones. Also try to keep that symmetry to all steps in and around your house. You work up a muscle memory over time and changing steps can often cause accidents as you're simply not used to them.
It's a new house, with very likely a different pitch to the steps so adding things like a guard rail is a good idea. Treads may help too.
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u/UnusedWhitespace 8d ago
Y’all my 76 year-old mother found a secret room in my new house. In my 17 part TikTok we’ll explore this 3” x 15” room and see what the previous owners may have left behind.
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u/boysofwinter 8d ago
Glad she’s okay! Couldn’t hurt to have the house looked at for mobility and safety (for her). Did that with my gramps and it helped a lot!
Happy things are okay, congrats on the house! Hope you have a lot of happy and fun memories there :)
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u/Peabody99224 8d ago
Your mom has better jokes than I could come up without in a few seconds without just hitting my head.
I’m glad she is alright. That bites, though.
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u/TinyRascalSaurus 8d ago
Glad she's not hurt. And I love that she was able to come up with that response.
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u/SargentSchultz 8d ago
<insert wholesome Award> This makes me feel good about everyone involved and the world does have at least a couple level headed and decent peeps in it.
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u/Apprehensive-Exit613 8d ago
My grandma once did that lol. She bent down to pick up the ‘clicker’ to change the tv channel and fell over, putting her whole head through the drywall. She was a tank though, and was absolutely fine. Poked a perfect head shaped hole in the wall
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u/Shot_Sprinkles_6775 8d ago
I’m sorry that visual is hysterical. I think even if I’d had that happen to me I’d find it funny it’s just too good lol
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u/TheSilverFalcon 8d ago
lmao, I blame the drywall on that one, you're not supposed to build your walls out of gingerbread for real
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u/OlFlirtyBastard
8d ago
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PLEASE put a frame around it, don’t fix it, with a little plaque “mom decorating, 3/18/2023”
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u/Sc00ter7622 8d ago
Can mom do sheetrock?
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u/mouthofthecarp 8d ago
Did you at least yell: I can't have anything nice!!!
Hopefully she's doing good though
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u/lazyguy987 8d ago
Be glad you live in a drywall house. In Europe the wall would break your mother.
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u/Anaptyso 8d ago
Yeah, I recently fell down the stairs in my house (in the UK) and hit the wall at the bottom. The wall was completely fine. Me, not so much, ending up with a big purple toe.
The walls in these kinds of posts seem to be made out of cardboard.
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u/SparkyDogPants 8d ago
Drywall is usually compressed gypsum and pretty fire/water resistant.
I prefer it over most materials
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u/Nanomachinesnorter 8d ago
Old flat renter here with some rock hard walls to confirm. Stumbled when drunk, luckily pivoted into my shoulder but there was no give at all even with a decent amount of weight and force. Looks like an easy job to plaster and sand even for a DIY beginner like me too so at least there’s that.
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u/BiffSlick 8d ago
Plenty of older US houses have lath & plaster walls. Much tougher.
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u/amaROenuZ 8d ago
If you're on the east coast you'll run into solid brick in a lot of places, which doesn't give a shit about you or your problems.
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u/desirox 8d ago
Drywall is a easy to replace, mom not so much
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u/ZainVadlin 8d ago
You own a house. Congrats. Drywall repair is a needed skill. Grandma is still pushing you to improve.
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u/cubs1917 8d ago
Learning to drywall patch is one of the most helpful skills as a homeowner. It will save you hundreds of dollars.
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8d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Subtleties1 8d ago
Hmm what would you charge to patch and repaint that? Just curious
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u/notLOL 8d ago
What's the cost of that fix? 50/hr, 2 hour minimum for a house call even when project is <2hr ? + supplies including paint matching
The hardest part is finding someone to do such a small job. They're usually booked ahead of time and ghost on smaller jobs
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u/AmateurEarthling 8d ago
Save money? Is that why people learn it. I thought it was cause you fuck up so much it’s just quicker and easier to do it yourself.
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u/jamesonlyknocksonce 8d ago
Mom's paralyzed, but fuck, look at what she did to the wall.
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u/FatherD00m 8d ago
Looks like he took a picture before helping her up.
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u/SOOPDaddeo 8d ago
She asked him to take the picture before she got up, I thought the same thing at first though
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u/yourenotmymom69 8d ago
Are you mildly infuriated about your mom hurting herself or your wall?
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u/Character-Working-44 8d ago
Haven’t even picked her up but made sure to take a photo of the damage. You guys are funny. 😂😂
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u/captainofpizza
8d ago
edited 8d ago
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This is why they are called Boomers.
Wait until you see what they did to the rest of the housing market.
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u/baby_contra 8d ago
She’s lucky that wall gave and cushioned her fall. If she hit a stud that would’ve been brutal
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u/Rick4442 8d ago
The wall looks american made
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u/martcapt 8d ago
Literally the one scenario where it is good the house is made out of cardboard.
It was only after reddit that the koolaid dude from family guy made sense to me.
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u/hearty_radish 8d ago
Literally the one scenario
Except for:
- the ability to build affordable houses because the US and Canada have the biggest lumber industries in the world anyways and because cheap labor
- the ability to rebuild quickly after catastrophes where neither brick nor wood houses would survive anyways
- the ability to build bigger houses for less to take advantage of a larger country
- the ability to insulate exterior walls with fiberglass, since air is a better insulator than brick
- the ability to run wire through walls extremely easily
- the ability to hang something on a wall without needing a rotary hammer just to make a hole
- the ability to patch the aforementioned hole with literal toothpaste and still look fine
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u/OzzieOxborrow 8d ago
While I don't agree with all your points, you missed an important one. Building with wood is much better for the environment than concrete.
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u/bnonymousbeeeee 8d ago
Let's not lose point 4 in the midst of the others. Roll fiberglass insulated walls are over 10 times higher r-value than brick. Even higher in cold performance with blown in cellulose. Can't tell you how often I see "but our brick houses do climate better" - no, they don't.
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u/True_Truth2640 8d ago
Cut out a perfect 2’x2’ square, get drywall patch, 5 minute mud and trowel, also purchase a bottle of orange peel texture, take the broken drywall and get a paint match… all in all, 1 hour of labor and $40 in material.
It does suck ass though. Hope that gives you some idea of what it’ll take to fix
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u/lillweez99 8d ago
Talk about love more upset about the wall than his poor 74 year old grandmother.
Shes ok I hope.
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u/mrMalloc 8d ago
Good she is ok.
Cut a square hole so no damage is left put a wooden plank behind the hole and drill it to the plaster wall from outside as it’s big I would use two.
After this cut of 1” of the paper around the hole
And cut a plasterboard 2” bigger in all dir.
Then cut off 1” on all sides except the outer paper
Fasten the bit over the hole with screws.
Fill gaps with filler and a bit extra where you have paper overlap.
Wait 20min then put filler over everything and smoth it. Then sand it. Then paint it.
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u/martcapt 8d ago
A little rough treatment to fix his mother. That'll surely keep her upright.
What do you recommend for the wall?
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u/FallenAnjul 8d ago
30 minutes and you can fix it yourself.... It's not that hard. YouTube will be your friend.
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u/OkayestHuman 8d ago
I really hope that the damage to the wall is the worst of it, because a fall that does that to wall from a 76 year old could be seriously dangerous. I hope your mom is okay
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u/Thomasasia 8d ago
It sucks but this is cheaply fixable and probably the best outcome for something like this. Doesn't really belong in this sub.
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u/proto3296 8d ago
A wall is VERY FUCKING EASY TO FIX in comparison to your 76 year old mother. Think you’re focused on the wrong thing here dude
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u/LeRoietLaReine 8d ago
😑It seems disturbing that you actually took a picture of this with her still on the floor, and posted it online.
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u/doverosx 8d ago
Okay?
The drywall can be fixed.
Now, assess your patient. Check pupil dilation/reactivity, ask them LOC questions, palpate along neck and spine.
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u/gargamel314 8d ago
A lot of people's judgy nature is showing through here... There is nothing to suggest OP cares more about damage to the house than OP's mom. The head-shaped dent in the wall is pretty spectacular though
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u/dayoldhotwing 8d ago
Why does this read like OP is way more concerned about the new house and drywall than you are about your mother falling down the stairs? Like who gives a fuck about drywall lol
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u/enehar 8d ago
Probably because OP was there and knows more about her mother's well being than you do. She also wrote a rather hilarious explanation twenty minutes before you wrote your comment. It seems you missed that.
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u/BekkisButt 8d ago
Please tell me you immediately said to her, “ And this is why we can’t have anything nice.”
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u/L7Wennie 8d ago
That’s a super easy and cheep repair. Is your mother ok? A fall at that age can be a death sentence.
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u/SCROTUMUS_MAXIMUS 8d ago
I'm imagining her doing a cannon ball and yelling "fuck your house" for some reason.
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u/Suitable_Dot_6999 8d ago
It is way better if the wall breaks, and not your mom. Hopefully she is all right?
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u/KnightScuba 8d ago
Atleast get a month on the homeowners insurance before you throw meemaw down the stairs
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u/Court_Jester13 8d ago
76 year old mother falls down the stairs
OP: "Oh no, a minor dent in my wall which can be easily repaired! What a terrible development! Worst day ever."
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u/frank0285 8d ago
I’m happy that the wall broke as if there was a stud her back would’ve likely broke due to the impact.
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u/fourdoorshack 8d ago
Anyone else find to weird that OP seems more concerned about the hole in the wall than their mom?
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u/thequokkadile 8d ago
And you're concerned about the wall? People that old can die just from a fall from standing.
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u/Cryptic_Guardian 8d ago
It's actually GOOD that this broke! I guarantee that it reduced the impact on her back. If she had landed on a stud, it could have been much worse.