Johnny is a 49 year old roofer who started roofing after a he got married 20 years ago. Last July, Johnny was approaching his 50th birthday and his wife kept teasing him, saying that he would soon be “over the hill.” But Johnny was in great shape. He ate right, wasn’t overweight, and he even ran a few miles a week to stay in shape. He felt as young as a twenty year old.
On that particular day, he was at a large roofing jobsite and was getting supplies out of the company truck. When he was done, he jumped out of the truck. But when his feet hit the ground, he felt a sharp pain in his left knee and heard a “pop.” He knew that wasn’t good. He limped to over to the construction trailer and told the foreman what happened.
They filled-out an incident form and then the foreman drove Johnny to the local clinic. While there Johnny was diagnosed with a torn cartilage in his knee which would require surgery.
For Johnny, a torn cartilage was a painful wake-up call that repeated stresses on the body have a cumulative effect… regardless of how young you feel.
DISCUSSION NOTES
How could this incident have been avoided?
When do you jump down from a higher level when you probably should not?
Never jump. It may seem like a short distance, but the cumulative damage to knees and ankles will eventually catch up with you.
A gentle landing will make your knees last longer.
Ankle injuries can result from jumping as well. Work boots laced snugly above the ankle
can help prevent or lessen the severity of ankle injuries.
