I'd been doing really well this week walking round town in these icy conditions. A lot of London's backroads and even several of the main roads are still slippery from Sunday's snowfall after a succession of freezing nights and near-freezing days. I've been sensible and gone out with boots on rather than mere trainers, and have safely negotiated near-lethal footbridges in Brent Cross, hills in Charlton, backroads in Hornsey, pavements in Chadwell Heath and subways in Bromley-by-Bow. But I finally met my match yesterday at the foot of Westcombe Hill where I slipped dramatically on a patch of black ice, landing with a thwack on my arse and my right hand. Yeeouch.
It looked like a pipe had burst because there was a larger than usual puddle by the side of the road, which I was studiously avoiding when a white truck drove by and very much didn't avoid it at all. The resultant splash hit my jeans and the book I was carrying in my left hand, and obviously I looked down to see how bad the brownish stains might be. This meant I took my eyes off the pavement for a crucial couple of seconds and failed to spot the black ice that had formed beside the puddle and whoosh, over I went. My hand landed with a gritty scrape, tearing a flap of skin, and my coat-covered backside took the rest of the impact. My resulting yell caused the driver of the subsequent car to slow down and check I was OK, which I was, as I swiftly proved by standing back up. The pain rapidly subsided as I brushed the muck off my palm, dabbed the bloody wound with a handkerchief and walked to the nearby bus stop, where normal sensation resumed.
As I headed home (via a hot tap and soap), I gave thanks that my body's still resilient enough to cope with an unexpected fall. All I appear to have ended up with is a cut, a slight ache in my wrist and some messy trousers, but give it a couple of decades and a tumble like that could have had more far-reaching implications. It only takes a second to go from vertical to horizontal, especially in a cold snap like this, and a nasty slip can happen to any one of us. Take care out there.
