Twice as many people suffer mishaps at home as at work. As I proved, folks hurt themselves in amazing ways. President Clinton ruptured his quadriceps while walking down a short flight of stairs. The famous Englishwoman from Kenya, Beryl Markham, who was the first to fly across the Atlantic from East to West and who had survived every danger the African bush offered, from lion attacks to the Mau Mau rebellion, fell and broke her hip as she leaned over to pet her dog, and died in the hospital of pneumonia shortly afterward. Adults slip in showers, children are scalded in bathtubs.
Some folks drown when their hair gets sucked down the tub drains.
Children strangle in the railings of bunk beds. Garage doors sometimes break bones. Folks of all ages die from food poisoning, choking on meat, inadvertent firearm discharges, kitchen fires, electrocution and pet bites. A challenge to officials But of all these calamities, falls are the biggest threat. Among the population at large, the risks of dying this way far exceed death by fire, being shot accidentally, inhaling others' tobacco smoke or fatalities due to exposure to carcinogens such as formaldehyde.