Flynn Down

Well it finally happened. A few posts ago I showed how I framed the roof going up around the chimney and mentioned that it leaked. Well this past saturday was the last cool day until the fall, and cool is still a relative term. It was only about 83*, but on the black roof it felt more like 115*. Going to be in the 90's for the next few weeks at least, likely we won't see any comfortable temps outside again in Raleigh until the fall. So it was the one day I had to get that roof stripped (framing and all) and rebuilt ready to shingle.

I got all of the framing ripped off and thrown down first, which was a sweaty mess. Then I got ready to go back up to start taking my first measurement for the new framing. I drew it out with a yellow lumber crayon and went to grab the stuff.

Climbing back up the ladder, I got to the top, put my hands on the shingles, and the ladder completely slid out from under me. It's an 11 foot wall, I'm 6' tall, so I really only fell about 5' down, but that was plenty. I grabbed the gutter to hold on up there, but it wouldn't hold my weight. Holding on did spin my body around as I fell onto the loose bricks & rocks on the ground.

Kelley was doing yardwork not far away, and the kids were making art on the porch. They all came running to check on me. Kelley said my left leg hit first and bent in a way that knees are not supposed to bend, kind of crumpled under me. While I was in the air, I remember thinking I needed to land on bent knees and just go soft all the way down. Funny that after building this entire porch by myself the entire family was out there when I finally seriously injured myself, but I was really glad they were all there to catch up quickly. If I had been alone and had to get myself into the house to get any help it would have been really scary.

So I made it to the ground with my back to the wall, sitting on rocks, and out of breath for some reason. I moved forward into more comfortable ground to assess the damage. Kelley found some scrapes on my right wrist and put bandages on there (so sweet). It was a good 10 minutes before I tried to stand up. Feeling around my left ankle I thought I felt some bones out of place and didn't want to stand if my leg was really broken. After the adrenaline rush wore off the leg didn't feel broken anymore so I got up and made my way inside. But it really wasn't right.

The offending gutter that now needs repair

So rest & ice have helped, but I still think there is something torn below my left knee to the outside. Don't know if it will be muscle or tendon, require PT or surgery, or maybe I'll just need a walking boot or something. My September marathons are probably out, I don't see how I'm going to be able to run for several weeks. I'm still really limping around  and going to see an orthopedist on Monday. And let's not forget that I still have a big hole in my roof!