Chris Rowley, 59, suffered car crash injuries of 9 smashed ribs, a fractured spine and a cracked skull when he fell down the stairs after tripping on his young Sphynx cat, Eric Morecambe) which he seems to dress in a fake coat! The picture of the cat is priceless.
In fact, the full extent of his injuries is mind blowing. He says that he was “massively injured [and] we’re still finding out the extent of the injuries now. I had a fractured skull, a broken bone in the neck, two fractures in the spine, nine broken ribs, and each rib has multiple fractures, and then I had a bit of blood in the lungs.” a
I have never heard of anyone suffering such catastrophic injuries following a standard trip up on your cat companion. Although I can well understand how it happened as cats do get under your feet.
The lesson is to look down always to make sure that your cat is not at your feet where they are likely to be because they often want to be near their human caregiver.
In fact, it wasn’t quite a standard trip as we are told by the Mirror newspaper that Chris Rowley’s Sphynx jumped up to try and clamp onto his leg (as kittens often do). As he tried to move out of the way (to avoid the pain!) he slipped and fell down the stairs. It happened late evening.
It was all over in seconds, but he spent 14 hours at the base of the stairs as he was unable to move due to his extensive injuries. He said that it was claustrophobic being stuck there waiting for his partner to return as she works nights.
To add insult to injury his cat sat on his chest and settled down. He probably thought it was very thoughtful of his owner to lie on the floor for him. Cats like it when their owners get down to their level.
Mr Rowley was hospitalised for two weeks which left him out of pocket as he couldn’t work.
He felt powerless as he lay at the base of the stairs because his phone no longer worked and as mentioned he was unable to move.
His partner got home late at around 10 AM. She normally arrives home at 8:30 AM. When she opened the front door, she heard him screaming and saw the blood.
She said that she went into shock and when the paramedics arrived, she left them alone because she could no longer stand his screaming.
Rowley ended up in the major trauma unit at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. Initially, they took him to Leicester Royal Infirmary but when they found out the extent of his injuries, they transferred him to Nottingham for major trauma.
It’s going to be 6-12 months until he is back on his feet. Apparently, he gets seizures because of the injuries and is taking an epidural to keep him sedated. He worked as a professional musician touring the world performing on cruise ships. That career ended because of Covid, and he now works as a carer like his partner, Jackie Millerchip.
