Colleen: never a dull moment

[mdlbear]

Very quick note: Colleen's scooter arrived this afternoon. We were going for a walk to the Rose Garden and she took a spill coming down the first curb cut. Injuries appear to be very minor, mainly a cut on her cheek, but we're at Kaiser getting her checked out. More info as I have it.

(10:29pm) Home, with two stitches in the cut above her left eye. Other than that the only things injured were her dignity and her composure.

Comments

[septemberlilac.livejournal.com]

Glad there were no major injuries from the mishap. But perhaps Colleen could be persuaded that dull, boring, uneventful days are not always a bad thing? Not that one would wish to make a habit of it, of course, but...you know, just for the variety. :-)

[mdlbear]

:) Problem is, she's had so many boring days in the last half-year. We'll see what we can do, though. Today is definitely going to be mostly rest -- she's pretty stiff.

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

Getting used to a new cart can be tricky. I've overbalanced in mine a few times. With practice she will become more proficient and experience will provide her with the knowledge of when she needs to take it slow. Until she gets there, it might be a good idea for you to adjust your gait to an agreed upon safer low speed setting rather than having her trying to match your usual walking speed. That's where inexperienced scooter users get into difficulty, and the already mentioned but dangerous culprit: curb cuts.

I'm so glad her injuries are minor. Make her get back on the horse that threw her as soon as she is feeling up to it. Her sense of competence might have been injured also, and the only way to regain that is to master the damn horse.

Give her hug from me and tell her I'm thinking of her.

[mdlbear]

Will do. Probably tomorrow we'll try a store or a mall, where she won't have any curb cuts to negotiate.

[artbeco.livejournal.com]

Scary! Glad the spill wasn't worse; those curbs are harder than anyone would think from just looking at them. I know with my sister, she had tried various different rented scooters which were all different and gave her similar scary troubles. Now she has her own scooter and she's gotten very competent with it; we joke about her entering drag races with it and it's not far from the truth...
*massive hugs*

[mdlbear]

*hugs*

Yes, it could have been pretty bad. She's still planning on scooter races in the hotel lobby at Baycon, but it may be a while before she tackles sidewalks again.

[chaoswolf]

I agree curbs are scary. I jumped one with my first driving lesson up here. Taking surface streets, managed to misjudge the turn and over-steered slightly. Oops.

As for the injuries, I didn't see this post, didn't know anything was wrong until Emmy said something earlier this afternoon. Argh.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Glad she suffered no serious damage.

I have no personal experience with scooters, but from past observations when moving wheeled carts, luggage, etc., about, I think that the curb-cuts are almost always not-cut-enough - that is, they are nearly as much of an impediment as the whole damn curb would be. (As my friend rickybuchanan might say... why don't they let some actual disabled people design the stuff that's supposed to make things easier for disabled people?)

*hugs* to them as wants 'em...

[mdlbear]

*hugs*

This one was one of the stupid diagonal ones; she didn't realize that you have to head straight down the center (into traffic) before getting back into the crosswalk in the appropriate direction. I still have no idea how she ended up where she did, but it was undoubtedly the safest direction to fall.

Cats are good like that.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

How would she feel about training wheels? ;-D

[mdlbear]

I'm not sure they make them. I suppose we could have gotten a scooter with a wider wheelbase, but we were going for portability.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Well, I was mostly joking about "training wheels". Frankly, though, I'm a bit surprised that it's that tippy; I'd have figured the battery and motor would be as low as possible on the frame, to keep the CG low.

[mdlbear]

They are, but the seat is fairly high and Colleen outweighs the rest of the scooter by a factor of two or more. If the seat was lower it would be more stable, but she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Um, how about piling some cement blocks on the frame, below the seat? (Or wherever they'll fit, as long as they're low.)

[mdlbear]

No room, as far as I can tell, and no flat surfaces except for the footrests. Might be able to do something with carefully-shaped lead weights, or bags filled with shot.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Sandbags and bungee cords.