I have a history of disc problems in the lower back, one of which required spinal surgery in 1996, and all the prolapses and surgery have left me with damage to the nerves in my right calf and foot. I have suffered from acute sciatica over the years. I have also developed drop foot so I have to concentrate when moving and keep my eye down on the ground to avoid stepping into any little dips which can destroy my balance and lead to falls.
I had just received my UKARA and was walking along a narrow uneven path to the village post office carrying largish parcels in both hands, containing items I was selling to finance airsoft purchases. A woman drove past me and stopped fifty yards ahead to pick up a friend. At the very moment she passed me, she hit the horn to alert her friend. The noise startled me and I lost concentration and lifted up my head and my right foot must have gone down into a slight decline in the path. I lost my balance tried to recover it and fell out into the road on my right. Because my hands were full of parcels I couldn't use them to break my fall. So I went down heavily onto the tarmac of a main road, and landed on my right hip. Fortunately no cars were coming at the time, or I probably wouldn't be writing this now.
I was in considerable pain and unable to get up for quite a while. A kind lady motorist stopped, helped me into her car and drove me back to my house. She got me in and sat me down in a chair. She offered to drive me to hospital but I declined.. I was very sore for two weeks but took ibuprofen and continued to hobble around in the house for a fortnight. My family finally insisted on taking me to the hospital for an x-ray. My hip had a clean break, and I was admitted immediately and operated on two days later. The operation resulted in more nerve damage (normal after hip surgery due to all the muscle that has to be cut through) to the right leg, and my drop foot worsened.
Nearly eight months later I felt I had recovered sufficiently to go back to my CQB site and avoid losing my UKARA. I was now wearing a special splint for drop foot. I was fine for most of the session, but forgot myself in the last fifteen minutes, broke into a little trot where the ground was uneven and went down again on my right hip. At first I thought I had broken it again, but it was just badly bruised and I had recovered after a week.
Then I received the results of my bone density test from the hospital telling me that I had osteopenia and was high risk for further fractures. My airsoft days were over and I would never get the full use out of all the airsoft stuff I had bought after getting my UKARA.
