Don't Slip Up With Your Stairs

Don't Slip Up With Your Stairs

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Several years ago, my mother was working at a really small company to make some extra money and to help out a friend. The whole operation was run out of a one-room office and was a combination of video bingo machine sales and Internet-based data entry, two industries that didn't have much to do with each other but that were working under a joint umbrella.

The office was on the second story of a slightly run-down office building that looked like it was actually an add-on to a converted home. Not exactly coveted office space, but since they would not be greeting clients there, it more than served its purpose. There was a way to get to the second story from the business downstairs, but the primary means of access was a staircase and small patio that had been added on to the outside of the building, something like a deck, with a door being added to the upstairs.

One day, as she was leaving, she slipped on some ice on the outside staircase and fell several steps to the bottom. She was hurt but still able to move, so they took her to the hospital where it was discovered that she had cracked and broken her arm and wrist in several places. The stairs hadn't been de-iced, and there was no anti-slip coating that seemed to be in place. Without that, any season could have been dangerous. A little moisture on the stair or on the bottom of a shoe or boot, and anyone of any age could have taken a serious tumble down those stairs.

My wife and I took our two children and moved in with her for a month. I was able to take her place at the company, which didn't pay well at all, while she recuperated. As expected, the building's insurance tried to get out of paying her bills, but in the end, they acquiesced. Her recovery was long and hard and entailed several months of physical therapy to be able to use her arm properly.

In the beginning, even the pain killers they gave her barely took the edge off of the pain, and she spent many sleepless nights sitting in an easy chair because it was too painful to lay down and risk rolling on to her arm. In retrospect, some sort of stairs anti-slip treatment could have saved her a lot of pain and discomfort. The only plus for her was that she got to spend some time with her grandchildren, but she was in too much pain to enjoy it or do anything fun with them. It would have been nice to be able to visit under better circumstances.

About the Author:
Amstep Products (http://www.amstep.com/) renovation stair treads are the economical way to repair worn, dangerous stairways. Billings Farnsworth is a freelance writer.



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