I'd like to ask everyone to be careful with their use of ladders! I had a bad fall last Wednesday (9/1) and have since heard of others with ladder accidents. I figured I was a professional and took adequate care in use of a ladder as I use them quite a bit in the orchard on my farm. I've mostly used 12' orchard ladders but bought a 16' one earlier this year to get higher up large chestnut trees.
My wife and I recently bought a second residence and I was cutting down a sick tree in the back yard, taking care to avoid having branches fall on a storage building of the neighbor. I was standing 12' above the ground and trying to remove a branch I had just cut with my chainsaw (thankfully, I had already handed my chainsaw to my helper). In hindsight, I should have had him hold the ladder, but that would have subjected him to the risk of falling branches. My ladder lost balance faster than I can even now believe. I fell very quickly against the edge of the roof of the neighbor's storage shed and then to the ground, hitting my head quite hard on a concrete stepping stone. My worker said it sounded like a bowling ball being dropped and that I had done a 360 flip in the air. I had the wind knocked out of me and was in considerable pain and couldn't answer my helper's questions about where I hurt, etc. for a minute or so. I did eventually feel good enough to want to try to stand up but quickly felt faint so had help getting back down and had my helper call 911. After a lengthy ER visit and cat scans from my head down to my thighs, I was released with no broken bones or internal injuries. I'm bruised up very badly and have pains in my right hip, left knee, left chest, and left shoulder. I saw my primary doctor 5 days after the accident and he suspects a torn meniscus in my knee and some other possible injuries, and even mentioned my aorta may have become detached from my skeleton. He's asked me to mostly stay laying down for another week. I'm feeling pretty good now and quit taking pain pills other than ibuprofen, but icing things down and not moving around too quickly. I hope to be better by the time I go for a follow-up next in 5 days. I'm still amazed that I didn't suffer more serious injuries or die. I definitely feel blessed by God.
Still, the point of my post is to ask everyone to consider their use of ladders carefully and be prudent. Make sure you have enough help for the job you're undertaking. That was probably my biggest mistake. I still can't believe my ladder lost balance in a way I've never had happen after being up ladders hundreds of times. An extra set of eyes may have made the difference.
