A FRIEND FELL AT THE GYM

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

Yesterday at the gym, a man I see there on some days, fell and I guess hit his face on the carpet.  I did not see the accident but I saw him sitting on the floor with his back against a straight back chair with a man kneeling beside him.  I quickly walked over to help him noting his scratched nose and that he was bleeding from his left arm.  As with my arms they were bruised which is common when a person is old and taking any drug which increases the blood clotting time.  I showed him by bruised arms with a smile noting that this being old thing is not at times fun.

I have written about him before noting his friendly face always smiling.  He walks with a limp using a cane.  I believe he must have had a stroke.  Still, he lifts weights on a regular basis which I am sure his physician recommended.  When we greet each other we laugh noting that we are still alive. When we part for the day he always says, “Never give up.”

Oh his technique in weight lifting is not really very good.  Now we both use machine weights which allow us to lift them without any great skill.  Still when lifting the weights each lift should be accomplished without putting the weights back to a resting position.  That is when you start performing a specific exercise you repeat it usually 15 times (reps) before you put the weights down. This exercise is called a set.  Usually three sets are performed with minute rests between each set for a given exercise.  He does but one set and places the weight down each time (rep) he lifts a weight.

So his technique is not great he still gets some physical wellbeing out of it.  I do not know how old he is but I guess that he is a bit younger than me and of course because of his ill health he is physically older.

Falling down is always humiliating for an old person especially so when there are people around to see it happen.  Even when I am alone and I fall, I am embarrassed for some reason.  I suppose my feelings represent the vulnerability which I have just demonstrated and a person does not want to feel out of control.

But what is interesting about falling is young kids do it all the time and jump usually laughing.  An old person certainly can not jump up but why we are humiliated by it I do not understand.  Perhaps we need to think more like young kids and laugh about it.

After I talked with him I went back to lifting weights.  In a few minutes I saw a policeman arrive with the EMS personnel.  They got him off the floor sitting up in the chair and began to take his vital signs which they recorded on their e-pad.  I am well aware of this activity for my wife has on several occasions has become unconscious because of low blood sugar.  She is a diabetic.  I always phone her at 8 in the morning to be sure she is alright. We live in different homes about 20 minutes apart. Of course when she does not answer the phone I call EMS whose personnel are attending to her when I arrive. Of course this type of e-recording makes life much simpler for them at the end of the day.

In a few minutes all of the medical help had left the gym.  My friend with assistance from several of the gym employees helped him to a chair nearer the entrance to the gym.  I finished my workout and as I was leaving I walked over to him to wish him well.  I asked if I could help him get home but he reclined for he was capable of driving.

We briefly talked about seeing each other next Monday after the weekend.  I am sure he will be there for he does not want to ‘give up’.   There is no doubt when a person gives up because of old age infirmities that person will not live much longer.

This article is shorter than most but like I wrote in the Preface the length of the article depends on what I have to write about.  I had to write about my friend falling at the gym because falling down is common with old people and sometimes with very serious consequences.  And to me, something about writing about it reduces his embarrassment.

Written 3/15

Since I wrote this article March of 2015 my wife suddenly died of a heat attack on 20 December of that year. She was 17 years younger than me but being a diabetic is a serious disease.

The friend I wrote about I do not see at the gym anymore.